Social Obligations
by Clever Lass
Summary: Twelve years after Sarah's Labyrinth experience, she is an older student working her way through college when she gets a unique invitation. Accepting it changes her whole life. COMPLETE! Looks monstrous, but don't worry, the chapters are very short.
1. Everyone Has to Grow Up Sometime

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not for profit. Jim Henson's, I believe. Some ideas in this have been borrowed from other authors I admire, and modified a bit (The idea of Jareth and Sarah engaging in a "truth" game was borrowed from Scattered Logic's lovely story "The Enticement," which I highly recommend, and several other elements were borrowed from "A Necessary Deception" by the same author). I absolutely **loathe** plagiarism, so if I use even the barest hint of something gleaned from another story, I cite the author._

**Social Obligations**

Chapter 1: Everyone Has to Grow Up Sometime

Sarah Williams walked in the door late on a Friday afternoon and threw her backpack down with a sigh. Her roommate wasn't home, and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at the few minutes of peace and quiet she so rarely got while living with her roommate, Paris.

She put the kettle on and made a quick sandwich, wincing at the sight of the bare cupboard shelves. She opened the refrigerator to see if there was any more lunch meat, but the stark refrigerator bulb shone on yet more empty shelves. Sighing, she resigned herself to buying groceries that night, instead of driving home to see her family. Food or petrol - that was her eternal dilemma, it seemed. She could never afford both at once. She took out the last wrinkled apple, deciding it might not be so bad if she peeled it first, and sat down at the table to finish her tea and snack.

Once finished, she leaned back and stretched. As long as she wasn't going to her parents' house, she could get a head start on her project for Management class. She scooped up her backpack on her way by and brought it upstairs.

In the middle of dropping it on her desk, she stopped short at the sight of the heavy vellum on her desk. Someone, it appeared, had left her a letter. Frowning, she picked up the paper and scanned the heading. She gasped in shock and sank into her desk chair. In a flowing, calligraphic script, it read:

_From His Royal Highness Jareth, King of the Goblins_

_To Miss Sarah Williams, Student: Greetings_

_His Majesty requests an audience with Miss Williams at her earliest possible convenience, for the purpose of making a small request of her._

_His Majesty asks that Miss Williams merely speak his name when she is ready to hear his request and he shall appear. His Majesty assures Miss Williams that if she follows this instruction to the letter, her safety and that of those around her shall not be compromised in any way._

That was the end of the script, but at the bottom in a different hand was a short, scrawled note that said:

_Sarah,_

_Do remember to use my name when you call, and not my title. Somehow I doubt you have any siblings to spare this time. --J._

Sarah took a keep breath and tried to stop her hand from shaking. She hadn't given Jareth or the Labyrinth much thought for several years. Since graduating from high school she had been so busy trying to make ends meet while she saved for college that she hadn't seen or spoken with her friends from the Underground for a very long time - and Jareth had never numbered among them! She hadn't seen him since getting Toby back.

Having a roommate complicated things too, especially one so much younger than she. Paris was fresh out of high school, a music major given to wild sex and even wilder parties. She regularly borrowed Sarah's things without permission, roamed her room and rummaged through her things, and frequently had guests over who joined her in making fun of Sarah, the "old lady" that Paris roomed with. Loud guests. Loud, overnight guests, which made it impossible for Sarah to talk to her Labyrinth friends at all.

Sarah checked her watch. Good. Paris shouldn't be back for another couple of hours, which would give Sarah time to compose herself for a royal visitation. Besides, it wouldn't do for Paris to come into contact with the Goblin King. If the king thought Sarah used to be whiny, Paris took the concept to a whole new level! And Sarah liked to think she'd grown past that by now.

Not for the first time, Sarah wondered whether rooming with Paris was her cosmic punishment for having been such a brat herself when she was younger. She gave a wry chuckle at the thought, and, rising, checked her appearance in the mirror.

Her glossy dark hair was pulled smoothly back in a single French braid down her back. With her blouse neatly tucked into her chinos and a vest over it, she looked neat and tailored, if not dazzling. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement -- and a little bit of dread -- at the thought of once again seeing the man she had bested twelve years before. She wondered what he wanted. Well, there was just one way to find out. Knowing she was wasting valuable, Paris-free time, she took a deep breath and faced her mirror.

"Jareth," she said.

And waited.

And waited.


	2. A Painfully Honest Conversation

_Author's note: Much as I adore Sarah and Jareth, I swear if I read one more fic that features Sarah as a grown woman who still acts like a petulant teenager, I'mgoing to scream. One more fic in which she gets angry at him and slaps him across the face, and I'm probably going to get the dry heaves. Please, people, if you're going to feature an adult woman, at least have the decency to give her some maturity!_

_This story features a **grown-up** Sarah and a **grown-up** Jareth, and shows how they might act toward each other as adults rather than twelve-year-olds in adult bodies._

Chapter 2: A Painfully Honest Conversation

And waited.

And then the wind came up and blew the papers off Sarah's desk and she heard the sound of feathery wings beating in the early evening twilight. The owl flew in her window and as it landed, its legs elongated and the rest of it changed form until the Goblin King stood before her.

But not the Goblin King. Gone was the high-collared cloak, the wild, spiky hair, and the aloof demeanour. His long blond hair still hung loose over his shoulders, but it was softer now. He still wore the high boots, sinfully tight breeches and vest, and a loose-fitting white shirt, but his expression was different; his smile was less intimidating and more humourous, and his voice was not cutting as he greeted her, but warm. "Hello, Sarah."

Determined to start off on a better footing this time, Sarah stood up and inclined her head. "Your Majesty," she said.

He frowned. "Jareth, please," he said. "If anyone in the world has earned the right to use my name, Sarah, it's you."

Sarah raised her eyebrows at the compliment. "Thank you," she said in surprise. She sat down on the edge of her bed. "Jareth, then. Would you like to sit down?" She indicated her desk chair.

He nodded and pulled it around to seat himself directly in front of Sarah, so close their knees almost touched.

"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked lightly.

He smiled. "How kind of you to pretend that my visit is pleasurable," he remarked in a dry tone. Sarah began a polite protest but he laughed and held up a hand to stop her. "No, no, I appreciate it," he assured her. "As for my reason for coming, it's quite simple. There is a state event coming up in a neighboring kingdom, for which I would like your company."

"A state event?" Sarah echoed in confusion.

He nodded. "A wedding," he clarified. Her expression did not clear, so he explained further. "The king of the Dwarves is taking a bride a fortnight from now. It will be the first royal wedding the Underground has seen in centuries, and I would be honoured if you would come as my guest."

Sarah was stunned. She made a couple of false starts before she could speak. "Let me see if I understand you here. After ignoring my whole existance for twelve years, you show up out of the blue because you need a date for a wedding?"

"Twelve years! Has it really been so long," he mused. He looked more closely at Sarah, noticing the fine lines around her eyes, the maturity in the shape of her face and figure, the poise that she had definitely lacked as a teenager. "I guess it has," he said. "But it can hardly be called 'out of the blue.' I did sent you a letter, after all. But essentially, yes: I am here to ask if you'll accompany me to the Dwarf King's wedding."

Sarah, agitated now, got up and paced around the room. "Why me?" she asked. "Why not some Elf-princess or some other sort of noblewoman from your own world?"

He blinked. "Sarah, no one in my world was worthy," he said in surprise.

"But I'm no one special," Sarah protested, sitting down in front of him again. She took a deep breath. "I'm just an overaged college student who has less debt and more weird experiences than most."

Jareth leaned forward and took one of her hands firmly between his gloved ones. "No one in the Underground was worthy of such an invitation, Sarah. You're the only one in both worlds who is my equal. Never, ever say you're no one special." He gave her hand a slight squeeze and released it. "Plus, there would be serious political ramifications if I brought any of my other acquaintances to such an important event. She would have certain… expectations of me that I would probably be reluctant to fulfill." He sneered a little and dismissed them with a scoffing gesture. "Social climbers, the lot of them." For just an instant the old Goblin King was back, and then he disappeared again leaving only Jareth who leaned back and smiled. "You defeated me, Sarah," he reminded her. "You solved my labyrinth, but even in my defeat you kept us on an equal footing."

Sarah frowned, remembering. She quoted slowly, "My will is as strong as yours; my kingdom as great."

"Exactly." He nodded. "_As strong,_ but not stronger. "_As great,_ not greater." He hesitated a moment, then spoke slowly, not looking at her. "I should have thanked you before now, for leaving me what power you did. As long as you remained strong in this world, so did I in mine. You have my gratitude."

Sarah blushed, remembering what a brat she'd been. Feeling as if she had to set the record straight, she told him, "I… I probably wouldn't have, if I'd known." She looked up at him. "I was just a kid then, Jareth. I didn't know anything about, well, anything. Certainly nothing about dignity or compassion for others. I'm a little embarrassed about how I acted to you then."

He took her hand again. "Don't be. I keep forgetting how short your human lifespan is. For one of us it would take sixty years to mature as much as you have in twelve."

Sarah chuckled, relieved of her embarrassment and teased, "So how old are _you,_ then?"

Jareth grinned. "Casting aspersions on my level of maturity, are you? Just remember it was you who summoned the Goblin King back then, instead of just asking for Jareth! If you wanted clever conversation instead of threats, you should have used my name and not my title that night!"

"I didn't know until tonight that there was even a difference."

"Yes. I don't know if the Goblin King is part of me, or if I am part of him, but we are very different in spite of being the same person."

Sarah shook her head. "I won't even pretend to understand that."

Her companion asked, "And what of my request? Will you be my guest for the Dwarf King's wedding?"

Sarah did not hesitate. "Yes. I'd be honoured." Then she grinned. "Especially as you laid on all that lovely flattery so thick. It would be a pity to have wasted all that effort, after all!"

He laughed. "Indeed!" He eyed her with amusement and stood up, taking her hand and drawing her with him. "I shall look forward to seeing you again soon," he said, conjuring a crystal. He bowed over her hand in a courtly manner.

"Uh, Jareth?" Sarah said, seeing him about to depart. He stopped. "What, exactly, does one wear to an Underground wedding? What should I bring? How should I act?"

Jareth smirked. "Sarah, Sarah, you worry too much, my dear."

Sarah decided to be frank about her concerns. "You do realize that I'm a poor college student who subsists on a diet of instant noodles and coffee, and can never afford to buy more than $5 worth of gas at a time, right? I mean, I'm not exactly used to being the King's date!"

Jareth said nothing, but conjured two more crystals. One he hurled out the window and the other he dropped negligently on the floor. It rolled out the door and Sarah heard the ring of it bouncing down the stairs. "If it will relieve your anxiety, I could arrange to return before then and give you a brief preparatory course in court etiquette." His eyes twinkled.

"You might be glad you did," Sarah retorted. "Or else I might show up in sweat pants and drink from the finger bowls!"

Jareth chuckled at the image. "Very well. You may expect me the next time your roommate is absent for a few hours. I shall leave now, though; I hear her coming in." He bent and pressed his lips to the palm of her hand and, still smiling, disappeared.

_So...__click that special little blue button below, and tell me what you think so far. Thanks!_


	3. School Daze

_We all knew that once Jareth entered Sarah's life again, nothing would remain the same. Didn't we?_

Chapter 3: School Daze

Paris' strident voice came booming up the stairs. "Whoa, Sarah! You win the lottery or somethin'? Where the hell didja get all the food?"

"What?" Sarah ran downstairs to stare open-mouthed at the refrigerator, packed with food. A gallon of milk sat next to the ripe, juicy tomatoes, with salad greens and wheels of cheese underneath. There were loaves of bread in the door and parcels of meat in the chill-drawer. "Oh, my God," she muttered, remembering the crystal Jareth had casually tossed down the stairs…shortly after she had mentioned living on instant noodles.

She grinned, delighted. "Must be my lucky day!" She was willing to bet that the one he'd tossed out the window had filled her gas tank!

"Boy, I guess!" Paris agreed. "Hey, I gotta get ready to go out tonight, Sar. 'Fraid you'll have to eat all this gorgeous food by yourself."

"I'll try to cope," Sarah said sarcastically, not even bothering to correct Paris on the subject of her name. She'd always hated when people tried to shorten it - especially when it led to the two of them being called "Sar and Par." She thought of something. "Going to be out late?" she asked casually.

Paris rolled her eyes. "Babe, if you see me before Sunday, it means I'm doin' somethin' wrong! Hey, want to come? Leo's throwin' this killer party down at the beach tonight, and tomorrow night there's gonna be one at Raoul's. Maybe you could get some action - he's got a friend who likes older women."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but no. I've got a Management project I want to get started on."

"Oh, right," Paris mocked. "Everyone else in the whole damn college is partying tonight and you're home, alone, working on school work! Man, I don't think you've even had sex the whole time I've known you!" Paris shook her head.

"Paris, you've only known me six months," Sarah told her sharply, trying to hold in her irritation.

"So? Six months is a long time, man. Six months is, like, half a year!"

"Very much like it, yes," Sarah said dryly. "Listen, Paris. You do your thing and I'll do mine, all right?"

Paris grinned suddenly. "Babe, tonight I'm gonna be doin' Leo's thing!" She thundered up the stairs with a loud guffaw.

"How nice for you," Sarah said sarcastically under her breath as she turned back to the refrigerator and pulled out some chicken, broccolli, and soy sauce.

An hour later Sarah had eaten her dinner and was doing the washing-up when Paris came clumping down the stairs in her black combat boots, micro-mini and halter. "Yo Sar, how do I look?"

Sarah scraped the last of her oriental chicken and broccolli into a storage contaner and looked up. "You don't want me to answer that," she told her roommate.

"Slutty, huh?" Paris said eagerly. Sarah nodded, eyebrows raised. "Good. Don't want Leo to miss the message," she said.

"Trust me," Sarah said. "He won't." She ran the towel around the last dish and realized something. "Paris? You're seriously not coming back tonight?"

Paris was on her way out the door. "Are you kidding? If I don't get Leo, there's always Jason. He's pretty easy. Trust me, Sar-bear, you're not gonna see me till Sunday mornin' if I'm lucky!" She waved and clumped out the door.

"You mean if I am," Sarah muttered, gritting her teeth at the horrid nickname. "Wonder what she'd say if she knew I was going to a royal wedding? And with a king, no less." She smiled at the thought.

"And a handsome and charming king, at that," came the voice of that particular king from behind her.

Sarah whirled around. Jareth sat at her kitchen table, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head and legs stretched out long in front of him. He looked as if he'd settled in for the evening. He smirked at her.

"You forgot 'humble,' Sarah told him dryly.

He chuckled. "Ah, Sarah. Don't you know I'm quite proud of the level of humility I've achieved!"

Sarah laughed. There was just no winning with this man! She took a seat on the other side of the table. "Here for my etiquette lessons so soon?" she asked.

He nodded. "Your ever so charming roommate is gone for the whole weekend, so I thought to take advantage of her absence."

"Hope it won't take that long," Sarah said. "I'd hate to think I'm _that_ ignorant!"

"Oh, the lessons won't take long at all," Jareth declared. "I thought we'd get them out of the way beforehand, and then spend the rest of the time enjoying ourselves."

"So… what, is this a date?" Sarah asked, sceptical.

Jareth conjured a crystal and gazed at it for a long moment. "Perhaps it might be considered such," he said slowly, still distracted by the crystal. "When you met me before, I was the Goblin King, and when I met you, you were a whiny child. A lovely child, with tremendous potential, but whiny nonetheless." He looked up and gave her a quick wink, then looked back at the crystal, turning it slowly in his black-gloved hand and studying it. "Since we have essentially never met before, and since the wedding will be such an important occasion, I thought it wise for us to spend some time beforehand, learning about each other."

Sarah considered his words for a moment and slowly nodded. He had a valid point. "Fair enough," she said. "Now, how are you planning to get the etiquette lessons out of the way so fast? There's going to be tons of stuff for me to know, especially if this'll be such a great occasion."

Jareth lifted one elegant shoulder in a casual shrug. "Here, catch!" he said suddenly, and lobbed the crystal at Sarah's head.

He was sitting too close, and he flung the crystal hard. Sarah couldn't block it in time and it struck her right on the forehead. She cried out, expecting the pain of shattered glass, but instead it touched her as lightly as a soap bubble and then burst.

Sarah cried out again, as her brain was suddenly filled with random bits of information that skittered down her neural pathways looking for homes. The proper modes of address, the proper table manners, the correct ways to dress for a state occasion, as well as hundreds of years of Underground history and geography suddenly appeared in her mind and she reeled and fell out of her chair.

Jareth caught her before she hit the floor and pressed her head down on his shoulder as he murmured, "It will all settle in a moment; please don't be afraid. Think of that as your lesson book." He knelt beside her, stroking her furrowed forehead while she gasped and sweated. "Is it starting to quiet down now?"

Sarah took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Being saved to my hard drive right now," she muttered, that being the only analogy she could come up with.

"Dare I ask what -- and more importantly, where -- your hard drive is?" Jareth asked in amusement, still stroking her hair and forehead.

Sarah huffed a laugh and sat up. "It's techno-jargon," she explained. "Nothing important. It's beginning to calm down now." She shook her head, still a little dizzy.

Jareth kept his hand on her head until she met his gaze and her own was clear. Relieved, he stroked down the side of her face and helped her to her feet. "How did you like your crash course in court manners?" he joked.

Sarah staggered a little, but her head cleared up in seconds. "Crash course is right! You weren't kidding when you said it would be quick. It was horrible, though, when I didn't expect it! And Jareth," she said, looking full at him. "You ever do that to me again, and you'll be sorry you ever laid eyes on me!"

"Now, now, my dearest Sarah," he said with a smile. "You'll never make me sorry about that!"

Sarah sighed, reluctantly giving in to his charm. "Just… I don't know, just warn me next time. All right?"

"Perhaps."

Sarah gave him a sharp look, but then dismissed the subject. "So now that I'm an expert on court manners according to Jareth, what shall we do tonight?"

Jareth waved one gloved hand and some silvery strains of music filled the air. With the other gloved hand he conjured another crystal and presented it to Sarah with a courtly bow. As soon as she touched it, it burst and showered her with rainbows. She glanced down and she was wearing a lovely old-fashioned ball gown in a deep blue. "Would you care to dance, lovely Sarah?" he asked.

"What, here? In my kitchenette-ette?" Sarah joked, waving her arm around her diminutive kitchen.

"No, of course not." Jareth copied her arm-wave, and suddenly they were alone on a large circular dance floor. He was suddenly wearing the peacock blue suit she had seen him in during her dream, but his hair was still loose and soft. He took her in his arms in a formal closed position and began to dance.

_Review, please. Otherwise I won't know if anyone is even reading it other than my pal Eariwen (Thanks, E!) and won't be as motivated to post. It's a two-way street, y'see._


	4. Crystal Mornings

Chapter 4: Crystal Mornings

Next morning Sarah woke up with a smile and stretched sinuously, enjoying the feel of the cool cotton on her skin. She rolled over, listening to the rain patter on the roof and wishing she could go back into the dream. It wasn't every night she dreamed about the Goblin King! She tossed her head to the side and clunked it on something hard. Puzzled, she felt around and found it -- and her jaw fell. There was a glass sphere on the pillow next to her. With a gasp, she realized that not all of last night had been a dream!

She stared at the ceiling, trying to recollect what had happened. They'd danced for a long time, then gone for a walk in the moonlight where Sarah had watched with envy as he transformed into an owl and went for a five-minute flight just for the sheer exuberance of it. After that, they'd come back into the house, and Sarah had a dim memory of agreeing to meet him again the next day. Then she'd felt a great lassitude overcome her… and she remembered nothing more.

Wondering if the crystal he'd left behind would give her a clue, she picked it up and gazed into it. It looked foggy for a moment, then the smoke cleared and she gasped to see Jareth looking back at her out of the crystal. He grinned when he saw her and gave her a little wink, and then pointed to a 13-hour clock behind him. "One hour," he mouthed the words, winked again, and disappeared. Sarah was left blinking stupidly at her own reflection. One hour? What would happen in an hour?

Whatever it was, Sarah wanted to be showered and dressed before it did. She leaped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Sarah realized as the hot water beat down on her soapy scalp that a 13-hour clock would give her less time in an hour than a normal, 12-hour clock would. Crap. Whatever Jareth had planned would happen in less than 55 minutes. How long had she been in the shower, anyway?

She dried herself and got dressed at lightning speed, not bothering to dry her hair. She quickly wove it into a braid and put it up with only a brief pause at the mirror to inspect her handiwork. Then she ran downstairs to make a pot of coffee and grab a quick breakfast.

Sarah had just finished stirring in her milk and sugar and was sitting down at the table when she heard a brief "ting!" of crystal and suddenly Jareth was seated across from her at the table. She jumped, spilling a little coffee on her wrist. "Ouch!" she hissed.

"Oh, let me," Jareth offered. He took her hand in his gloved one and tenderly pressed a kiss to the burn. To Sarah's surprise, it disappeared along with the pain. He looked up, smiling into her shocked face. "Good morning!"

"G'morning," Sarah said, staring at him for a long moment and then studying her formerly burned wrist. "Wow, and here I always thought 'a kiss to make it better' was just an old wives' tale."

"Well, my mother would have probably have qualified as an old wife," he murmured. "At least, to you she would. How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thanks, except for clonking my head on that crystal you left behind," Sarah told him with a grin. She sipped her coffee slowly, closing her eyes to savour it better. Ahhh. Nothing like a morning jolt of caffeine. Although Jareth's presence was proving to be an even better wake-up call.

"My apologies," he said. "I merely wanted to make sure you remembered our agreement to spend the day together. You were fairly tired last night."

Sarah nodded. "Yes, I remember. Want some coffee?" He made a negative gesture and she sipped her own again. "Okay. What shall we do today? My roommate will be out all day and most of the night at Raoul's party, so we have the place to ourselves. I'd been planning to go out for a walk, but with all the rain I'd be just as happy staying in."

"I am sure whatever you wish will be fine," her guest replied graciously.

Sarah grinned. "Well, I used to play a mean game of Scrabble with Sir Didymus when I was younger!"

"Yes, I know."

Something about his fond expression made Sarah suspicious, and she asked sharply, "What do you mean, 'you know'? Did you used to spy on me when my friends visited?"

He nodded, not looking at all contrite. "They were my subjects, after all, Sarah. What sort of ruler would I be if I allowed my subjects to roam about a dangerous world like yours with no protection? I know you thought me a bad man, but I assure you I do try to be a good king."

Sarah's outrage faded and she closed her mouth on her sharp retort. "I never looked at it from that point of view before," she said finally. "Thank you. On their behalf, and mine."

"So what shall we do today?" Jareth changed the subject graciously to a less charged one. "I should perhaps mention that if you do care to go out, I can improve the weather a bit."

"You can?" Sarah laughed. Teasingly she added, "So much for my plans of staying in and playing 'Truth or Dare' with a Goblin King! Come on, Your Majesty: clear up these clouds and we can go for a walk!" Too late, she caught the expression of avid interest on his face.

"What is that? Is it a game?" Sarah nodded, suddenly suspicious of his broadening smile. "I simply _love_ games," he said. "How do you play?"

"Oh, it's not a _real_ game," Sarah hastened to explain. "I was only joking anyway. It's not a competition, like Scrabble is. There are no stakes -- just..." she was at a loss to explain. "It's a game of questions. I ask you, 'Truth or dare?' and you have to decide whether to tell me the truth about any question I ask you, or to dare to do whatever task I come up with for you. And then you ask me 'Truth or Dare?' and I have to choose. And you don't know beforehand either the question or the task. It's kind of juvenile -- just a lot of talking, really, not a real game at... all..." Sarah's voice broke off when she glanced up to see the blaze of interest in Jareth's eye. She was suddenly _very_ glad she hadn't joked about strip poker.

_I just love a playful Jareth, don't you?_


	5. Honesty and Daring

Chapter 5: Honesty and Daring

Jareth grabbed her hand. "Sarah, this game sounds delightful! We must play!"

Sarah laughed and acquiesced. "But let's agree first -- no really humiliating dares, please?"

"Agreed. So who starts?"

"I'll flip a coin," Sarah told him producing a dime from her pocket. "You call it in the air, heads or tails," she showed him each side, "and if you win, you go first. If not, I do."

Jareth frowned. "That doesn't seem very equitable."

"What? Why not?"

"Well, it won't be fair to you, my dear Sarah, and as I recall you're somewhat of a stickler for justice." The mischievous twinkle in Jareth's eyes belied his innocent expression.

"It's a 50-50 chance, Jareth. Trust me, it's fair," Sarah snapped, slightly annoyed at his mentioning her oft-heard complaint. "Here we go -- call it!" she said, flipping the coin and sending it spinning halfway to the ceiling.

He called it. "Edge."

Sarah had time to give him one sharp glance before the dime landed on her coffee table. On its edge.

He lifted one brow at her. "That's not fa -- " Sarah started to say, and then caught herself and chuckled. "Never mind. One of these days I'll learn not to play games of chance with magic users."

"And what a sad day that will be for us magic users," Jareth replied. "So I go first, I take it?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You did win the toss."

"So I did. Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Sarah didn't want to risk a dare just yet.

His question surprised her. "How long did you hate me, after running my labyrinth?"

Sarah paused for thought. "A few months, maybe. It took me a long time to realize that you were right: you _had_ done everything I expected. And you let my friends come and see me afterwards, which was more than I would have thought you'd do.

"I had a long talk about you with Sir Didymus once, over a game of Snakes and Ladders. Once you get past all the 'miladys' and 'yea, verilys' he's really quite a staunch supporter of yours."

He smiled. "I know. Why do you think I had him guarding my Bog? I needed someone there I could trust." He dropped his eyes for a moment to the silver coin still sitting on its edge on the table. "So if you didn't hate me for very long, does that mean you've forgiven me what I had to do?"

"Uh-uh, Your Majesty -- I've already answered your question," Sarah teased. "Now it's my turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"What would you have done with my brother if I'd failed the labyrinth?" Sarah steeled herself for the response.

"Would I have turned him into a goblin, you mean?" he asked, sarcasm colouring his tone. He shook his head, barely able to keep from rolling his eyes. "Of course not. Sarah, you saw them: stupid, mindless, boggling, sloppy creatures. I can't stand the ones I have -- why in the world would I want to make one more? No; I sought an heir. If you'd failed, I thought to adopt Toby as my son, later to inherit my throne."

Sarah was stunned. "You mean... I saved him from becoming the crown prince of a fairy-tale kingdom so that he could grow up in a broken home, hating school and having no friends?" She looked away, suddenly wanting to cry.

Jareth's voice was gentle. "Sarah, you didn't know. And you still don't know his future. He might have to go through some trials now so he'll be a better person later." Sarah sniffed, and Jareth continued, "After all, it worked for his sister." He laid a gloved hand on her shoulder, urging her to turn back to him.

"That's true; I did come out of the Labyrinth better than when I went in," Sarah mused, sniffing. "Maybe Toby's labyrinth is real life instead of a maze."

There was a pause, then, "My turn," Jareth said eagerly. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Sarah suddenly felt reckless.

"Dare, hmm? You surprise me. Now then, what would be sufficiently daring for a woman like you, and yet not humiliating?" He snapped his fingers. "I have it! Come and kiss me, Sarah."

"K-kiss you?"

"On the lips, please. Take as long as you like," he said airily. "If it lasts until tomorrow morning, I can always reverse time for you again."

His light, flirtatious attitude made her laugh and Sarah relaxed a bit. Deciding that he was probably expecting a quick peck on the cheek, she resolved to surprise him. "All right." She ran one hand through his hair, brushing it back off his face and then leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his. Once, and then again, and the third time she lingered. Jareth's hands came up to clasp her shoulders and hold her firmly against his chest. Sarah slid her arms around his neck as the kiss lengthened.

Finally they parted. "Oh, Sarah," Jareth whispered in wonder, drawing her closer to lean against his shoulder.

Sarah's hands trembled as she drew them back to her lap. She leaned into Jareth, waiting until her heartbeat slowed down and her breathing evened out. Then she decided to have a little fun. She reached up one hand to trace the shape of his lips and sighed his name. "Jareth..." She drew it out, as if she were about to tell him something hopelessly romantic. This was the kind of introduction that _I've always loved you_, or _Please stay with me forever_ would get.

"Mmm?" was his dazed reply, as he evidently expected one of those types of phrases to cross her lips momentarily.

Sarah lifted her head and whispered in his ear, so close that the feeling of her breath made him shiver. In the same breathy voice, she asked him, "Truth or dare?" and leaned back with a mischievous smile.

_**Now** who's playing games_? _Review, please._


	6. A Walk in the Park

Chapter 6: No Pieces of Cake, but Maybe a Walk in the Park?

Jareth took a long, quivering breath and expelled it in a chuckle. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and released her. "That's my Sarah. Never predictable. I choose truth. I wish no secrets from you."

"Were you _very_ angry with me after I solved the labyrinth and refused you? I know I disappointed you, but I had to think of Toby..."

Jareth shushed her with one glove-clad finger across her lips. "Disappointed, yes. 'Crushed' would not be too strong a word. But I was not angry for long -- I admired you too much. And deep down, I know you were just too young to make a decision like that." He stroked her lips gently, leaving them tingling, and she smiled. "Truth or dare, lovely Sarah?"

"Truth."

"Was there anything else I could have said or done, to make you wish to stay in the Underground?"

There was a long pause while Sarah considered the question. "I really don't know," she said finally. "The truth about your intentions would probably have helped, but honestly, Jareth, I wouldn't have trusted you anyway."

"Understandable," he commented. "Look, the rain has stopped," he said. "How about that walk now?" He stood up slowly. As he rose, his outfit changed so that by the time he was standing fully upright he was wearing blue jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt. His high black boots had dwindled into low black leather shoes and his hair was neatly tied back at the back of his neck. The streaks around his eyes were gone.

Sarah gaped. "Wow, you look... good!"

He smiled. "I thought it best to blend in a little more, if we're going out in public. I'm glad you find the result... pleasing," he teased, enjoying her mouth-hanging-open perusal. He offered her a hand, which Sarah took with a blush.

As they strolled through the park hand in hand, Sarah asked, "So... truth or dare?"

"Dare," he decided with a grin.

Sarah grinned back. "I want you to come to Raoul's frat party tonight looking like that," Sarah told him

"A frat party? How intriguing. What are they like?"

"Oh, there's generally a lot of loud music, a lot of drinking, a little dancing, a little hooking-up..."

"Hooking up what?"

"Oh, you know. Meat market. Pairing off for the night."

"For what purpose?"

"Uh, mostly for sex," Sarah said bluntly. She knew things were different in the Underground, but sex was universal. Wasn't it? Perhaps not, she decided, noting Jareth's frown.

"Sarah, am I understanding you correctly?" He sounded utterly disbelieving. "You wish me to go to some college party so I can drink, dance, and engage in lustful activities with your peers?" His expression was just as incredulous.

"Um, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Sarah said, blushing. "Unless you wanted to. I was mainly just thinking I'd love to see everyone's reactions when they get a load of you. I mean, with your looks and manners, you'll be quite a change from the average partygoer."

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

"Well, you're so tall and regal and all. You're rather a cut above the average college student --" He grinned, and Sarah, abruptly realizing that she was merely stroking his already massive ego, closed her mouth.

"Will you be at this party also? Shall I be your guest? Or shall I go -- oh, what is that phrase... as a stag?"

Sarah laughed at his version of the expression. "Oh, go stag, by all means; that way no one will see you with me and make any assumptions about you through knowing me. I'll definitely be there, though; wouldn't miss it!"

"I accept your dare. Now it's my turn."

"Dare," Sarah cut him off before he could ask.

He smiled. "Then I dare you to dance with me at that party... and to leave with me."

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not that good at dancing at parties," Sarah hedged.

Jareth stopped walking and turned her around to face him. "I remember differently," he said.

Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh, God," she moaned. "Oh, dear God." She looked up again. "It was real? The -- the Crystal Ballroom? It was real?"

He nodded slowly. "I certainly hope it was real; it's one of my most treasured memories of your time among us."

"I - I thought it had just been a dream," Sarah stammered.

Jareth smirked. "It was certainly a nightmare for the other ladies who sought my attention that night. I only had eyes for you. So do you accept the dare?" he pressed.

"Well... what do you mean by 'leaving with you'?" Sarah wanted to know. With Jareth, it was best to have everything spelled out.

"Simply that I would be honoured to see you home whenever you are ready to leave," he said with a gallant smile. "I have heard that these human gatherings can sometimes be dangerous when there is a quantity of alcohol consumed. You might not be safe alone."

"Then I accept."

_Show of hands for wanting to see Jareth at a frat party? Come on, get 'em up there! Uh, I can't see them. You'd better review instead._


	7. Work Before Play

Chapter 7: Work Before Play

The rest of the day passed quickly. They wandered in the park for another hour just talking, the game forgotten. When Sarah's stomach growled loudly enough to interrupt the conversation, they laughed and headed back to the apartment for lunch. Sarah began to get out some food from the well-stocked refrigerator, but Jareth stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Please, allow me." He conjured a crystal and tossed it onto the table, where it exploded into place settings for two, complete with cloth napkins, a vase of flowers, and various steaming dishes. Sarah just shook her head and muttered something about magic, and he chuckled as he pulled out her chair for her.

Sarah had work to do that afternoon, especially as she was going out to Raoul's party that night, so Jareth left her shortly after lunch, promising to meet her at the party.

Several hours later, Sarah stretched and turned off the laptop. She pinned up her braid and headed upstairs to bathe and get ready for the party. She dropped some scented oil in the tub and leaned back, relaxing in the hot water with a deep sigh. She didn't know what to make of Jareth's presence. He'd been back in her life for less than a day, and already they laughed and joked like old friends. He was exciting -- there was always an edge of flirtation to his joking, and Sarah couldn't tell whether it was meant for her or simply part of his personality. Whichever it was, though, she'd had more fun in the last 24 hours than she'd had for years! She smiled, leaning back in the tub, and resolved to just take things as they came. If nothing else, she'd have the memory of attending a king's wedding, as the guest of another king, no less, and she knew she'd treasure that for the rest of her life!

After her long soak, she got dressed in some snug black jeans and a tight, wine-red, off-the-shoulder knit top that showed a thin strip of her belly above the jeans. She undid her braid and curled the ends of her hair, admiring the ripple effect in the mirror. She left it loose for a change - after all, tonight was going to be rather a special occasion. Her mouth curved in amusement at the thought; after all, one didn't attend a frat party with a Goblin King every weekend! She decided against perfume; probably several other girls there would be wearing it, and she didn't want to add to the miasma of scents that was sure to be there. She applied some smoky eye shadow, smirking at the thought of making those upward sweeps with it that the Goblin King always wore, but in the end she applied it naturally. She chose a deep red lipstick, slipped on a pair of heels and was ready to go.

The music at the party was loud and pulsing, and the whole downstairs smelled of beer and sweat and old cigarettes, with an underlying tang of vomit and sex. Sarah wrinkled her nose, mentally christening it the Frat House of Eternal Stench. No one paid her any attention.

Sarah glanced around, seeing only a few people she knew: Paris was there, with one of her sorority pledges, a bubbly blonde named Cindy. Paris was draped around Leo, whom Sarah knew from his visits to their apartment, and Raoul, the host, was busily putting the moves on Cindy. Sarah knew Raoul from a "group project" they had done together for a class; she had done all the work, and he had taken all the credit. She didn't see Jareth yet.

The dance floor was small -- it doubled as the living room during the few times when the frat house wasn't hosting a party. Sarah waved at the DJ, a fairly decent guy named Angelo who shared her aversion to Algebra. They'd frequently commiserated about it over coffee, since they both had a break just before class. He nodded to her, sending her a silent, eye-brows raised compliment on her outfit from across the crowded dance floor. She grinned in acknowledgement and headed into the other room.

_Author's note: I know this is a short chapter, but the next one should be along tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the reviews! Midnight Lady, the backstory is on its way two or three chapters from now. If, after reading it, you still think it should come earlier in the story, please let me know. I have the whole story arc already planned out, but I very much appreciate constructive criticism and am more than willing to make necessary "ch-ch-ch-ch-changes." ;)_

_Also, Sarah and Paris share an off-campus apartment; they don't live in a dorm. I'm sorry; I thought that was clear. I'll have to go back and check on that, and possibly change it. And Sarah's returning-student experience mirrors my own and that of several others I know, even down to the annoying roommates and lack of money! Not all older students can afford to have their own apartments while going back to school. It might seem unrealistic to you, ML, but it sure rings true to my experience:) If it still seems too out of character for Sarah after you've read the next few chapters, then let me know and I'll see if it needs changing. Thanks for your comments._

_Solea, I hope the frat party chapter doesn't completely sour you on the story. I'll keep him as in-character as I can, I promise! To you and everyone else who reviewed, thank you very much! And keep on doing it. Till next time, --CL_


	8. Everybody Loves a Party

Chapter 8: Everybody Loves a Party

Jareth was there in the next room, bending knowledgeably over the pool table with a cue in his hands. Sarah caught her breath at the sight of him. He looked similar to the way he had looked that afternoon, but just different enough so she couldn't take her eyes off him. It was an affliction shared by most of the girls in the room, she realized, as first one girl then another approached him with flirtatious smiles. His nondescript opponent they left alone.

His hair was much shorter and spiked on top. He still had his black leather gloves on (there was a smudge of blue chalk on one of them), but now he wore black jeans and black boots, a burgundy button-down shirt. Sarah glanced down at herself and recognized that, somehow or other, he had dressed to match her own outfit. "Wicked man," she muttered, lips curving in a rueful smile.

As if he had heard her, his head swivelled up and he gave her a long, searching look. Then, straight-faced, he winked at her and turned his attention back to the table. Sarah shook her head and wandered over to the snack table. She ate a couple of pretzels to kill some time. Someone shoved a cup of beer into her hand, and she took a cautious sip. She made a face. Nope, still nasty. No matter how many times Paris assured her that beer was the nectar of the gods, Sarah was sure the real nectar of the gods was a Toasted Almond instead, or maybe a Frozen Mudslide. She knew she'd never develop a taste for beer, and she couldn't afford the decent wine and expensive mixed drinks that she did enjoy.

Thinking of Paris, Sarah was surprised when she turned back and saw her roommate talking to Jareth. Talking to, and practically wrapped around, she amended. Jareth had absently put his arm around her, but his attention was still completely focused on the game of pool. Sarah stifled her giggle, now knowing his passionate love of games. She could have told Paris that he wouldn't be interested in her while there was some sort of competition going on!

Paris, bored with Jareth's inattention,slouched her shoulder down so that his hand slid naturally down onto her breast.

That got his attention. He let go immediately and backed away from Paris with contempt on his face. He said something cutting to her that Sarah couldn't hear, but it made Paris' eyes widen. Eyes flashing, Jareth dropped the cue stick in disgust and walked away abruptly.

Paris drifted over to where Sarah was leaning against the snack table. "What the hell are you doing here? Thought you were gonna be boring and do homework all night."

"Changed my mind," Sarah said lightly. "Thought I might meet someone interesting."

Paris scoffed. "Steer clear of that blond guy with the gloves. He's pretty, but he's awful bitchy."

Sarah chuckled at this description of the Goblin King. "Maybe he prefers more of a challenge," she said.

Paris glared at her, knowing Sarah had seen Jareth's disdainful rejection of Paris' advances. "Maybe I should introduce him to _you_, then," she said cuttingly. "But a guy that hot wouldn't want a boring old drudge."

Sarah shrugged, flushing,but suddenly Jareth was there with a casual hand on Paris' shoulder, gently nudging her out of his way. "So, Paris, who's your friend?" he asked, his eyes drinking in the sight of Sarah, who stood tall and poised in the midst of all the activity and blaring music. He flashed Sarah a devastating smile.

"Oh, it's just myold roommate," Paris sniffed, making one last-ditch effort entice the exciting blond stranger to fix on herself instead. "She's having delusions of youth tonight, I guess. This is Sarah Williams, and this is Jared Something-or-other." Paris had already had a few drinks.

"Nice to meet you," Sarah said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

Instead of shaking it, though, he tucked it firmly under his arm and began to lead her away, turning his back onParis. "The pleasure is mine. So you're having delusions of youth, are you?" he teased.

Sarah shrugged.

He grinned. "So am I, and I'm much older than you. Care to dance?" He led her towards the dance floor.

_Fret not, Solea, no one is drunk and jealous except for Paris. ;)_


	9. Never Cut in on a Goblin King

_Midnight Lady, I was appreciative, rather than offended by your comments. Any remarks that my wonderful reviewers can make that will help be become a better writer are always appreciated. You definitely weren't a whiny complainer, but a helpful reviewer. You showed me a point of confusion, and as a writer who tries to put out a good product, I don't like to have points of confusion littering my work. So honestly, I thank you._

_To everyone else, I likewise thank you for all your lovely and encouraging comments. I know the last few chapters have been short--my apologies. They're short because I want to keep your interest up while I frantically try to scribble an ending to this thing! I'm hoping to finish it before I run out of chapters to post, so that I can just keep posting 'til it's complete. So bear with me, folks, I've got lots more chapters on their way. _

_To ML, Angela, Deanna, and Dragon Lady -- thanks for your reviews, but maybe you could register and login at some point? When people review my work, I always like to check out theirs in return--or at least, see what other authors they like. I've found some truly enjoyable fanfic this way. So think about it, wouldja? Thanks, and thanks to everyone else as well. --CL_

Chapter 9: Don't Cut in on a Goblin King

The song was a slow one and Sarah was mildly surprised when Jareth placed her arms around his neck and drew her close, instead of going into the more formal stance they had used the night before. He spun her around the floor, weaving effortlessly among the other couples who swayed drunkenly in place hanging listlessly on each other.

As they danced, Sarah became aware of two things: one, Jareth and his dancing were getting quite a few admiring looks from the sorority sisters clustered around the room, and two, Jareth was dancing very, very close. She could feel his body heat through her thin knit top, and his leather-clad fingers caressed the bare skin of her lower back where her top had ridden up.

She blushed as his thighs nudged hers, and his body led her easily into the formations of the dance. In the heels, she was the same height as he -- a fact she understood quite suddenly when she felt Jareth's lips touch her neck. Sarah was disconcerted to realize that not only was she a perfect height to return the favour, but that she was definitely tempted to.

"Uh, excuse me - may I cut in? Paris said you might like me better than the 'old lady.' I'm Cindy." Paris' blond bubble-headed pledge was tugging at Jareth's sleeve.

Jareth stepped back and firmly into his Goblin King persona. Head tilted in a haughty manner, he lowered his brows and looked down his nose at the diminutive blonde. "Certainly not!" he snapped. "I'm quite happy with my choice of partner, and you'll tell Paris I do not appreciate her meddling!" He turned his back on the girl and pulled Sarah back into his arms with an expressive roll of his eyes.

Sarah smiled. "I'm flattered."

He snorted. "That I prefer the company of a lovely woman to that of a biting pixie? I assure you," he added dryly, "dancing with you is hardly a chore."

His tone was sarcastic and his manner disdainful, but Sarah thought she'd never had as nice a compliment. She leaned closer and gave him a sweet, soft kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. The reference to the biting pixies was especially apropos.

Jareth nearly stumbled. Why should she be so grateful that he hadn't let that tse-tse fly cut in? He caught his balance and drew her in closer, sliding a hand down the mohogany waves that rippled down her back. He brushed her lips with his own and smiled at her just as the song ended.

_Don't worry, there's more coming in a minute! --CL_


	10. Yet Another Small Wager

Chapter 10: Yet Another Small Wager

_(and another short chapter. Sorry.)_

It was replaced by a fast rock song that cleared the dance floor of the seven or eight swaying, groping couples and replaced them with one or two wildly gyrating ones. Sarah started to back away -- this really wasn't her sort of dancing! -- but Jareth flashed her a mischievous grin and started dancing. He tugged her hand and sent her spinning across the floor, then drew her close again and released it. He started dancing very close, so close she could feel his body heat against her skin, but without touching.

She began to copy some of his moves, encouraged by his wide grin, and soon she was dancing freely. She made rapid turns and tossed her hair over one shoulder to keep her gaze locked on Jareth's. She found she could follow his lead quite easily, just by watching the angle of his torso and the movements of his arms. These subtle signals served to lead Sarah into a "freestyle" dance with him that was intricate enough to have been choreographed.

Their sensual movements and intense looks, with their eyes locked on each other, began to attract people's attention. Sarah slowly became aware that the dance floor had cleared, leaving only her and Jareth. Some of them began to clap along with the music and call out encouragement. Sarah glanced around rapidly, seeing everyone's attention on her while she danced with Jareth, and was seized with a sense of déjà-vu. It was so like the Crystal Ballroom for a moment that she panicked. Jareth, sensing her discomfort, took her hands and made her look at him again while they finished the dance.

Mercifully, the song ended. The roar of approval and the loud applause startled her, and she blushed in confusion and ducked between two students to make her way towards a couch she'd seen on the way in.

It had students on it. Jareth cleared it with a look, and Sarah collapsed gratefully into it while Jareth descended more gracefully beside her. While she caught her breath, Sarah lifted her heavy mass of hair and fanned the back of her neck with it. "I never knew you could dance like that!" she exclaimed. With a rueful smile, she amended, "Never knew I could dance like that, either!"

Jareth smirked and put a friendly hand on Sarah's knee. "I believe we may have made an impression," he said, glancing around at the dozen or so frat boys who couldn't take their eyes off Sarah.

"Well, you have, anyway," Sarah replied, sweeping her glance around at all the girls clustered around the room who were staring at Jareth and whispering to each other.

Jareth scoffed. "Please. If I left you alone here for an instant, you would not remain alone for longer than that. I promise you!"

Sarah dismissed that thought with a quick shake of her head. "Oh, I don't think so. If I got up to get a drink, you'd be mobbed with at least a dozen sorority girls all trying to score with the gorgeous stranger."

Jareth's eyes widened with interest. "Shall we make a wager on it?" he asked eagerly.

Sarah laughed fondly. "You and your games!"

He ignored her remark. Eyes sparkling, he said, "I will go and get you a drink, and I'll bet that you'll get more interested parties than I will while I'm gone."

Sarah grinned. "What are the stakes?"

"If I gather more hangers-on than you, I shall provide your attire for the king's wedding. If, as I suspect, you gather more, then you shall agree to extend your time in the Underground by at least three days."

"Well, that's hardly fair. A new dress or a long visit -- I win either way!"

"Not so. You see, either I get to see you gowned as I choose, or I get to enjoy your company an additional three days. I believe we both win either way." Jareth was nothing if not charming.

Sarah blushed. "Fine." They shook hands on it, and Sarah told him, "I'd like a ginger ale, please."

Jareth moved with a feline grace, she thought as she watched him make his way across the room to the cooler. Not so much like a lion, though, despite the Goblin King's usual wild disarray of hair. Not that bulky or stately -- more like a panther, all flowing, sinuous muscles and darkness.

She looked away and fanned the back of her neck with her hair again.

_OK, no more until tomorrow. I'm still writing the last couple of chapters and need to concentrate on that. Hope to make it up to you for the wait, by making them extra-good chapters, though. Feel free to chew me out for the delay if you like. Just click below._


	11. Sarah Starts a Collection

Chapter 11: Sarah Starts a Collection

"Hi, I'm Ryan," said a lanky redhead, throwing himself down next to Sarah, in Jareth's spot on the couch. "Haven't seen you before. What's your name?"

"Sarah," she replied.

"Man, Sarah, that was some amazin' dancin'. Some of those moves -- baby, I didn't know a human body could _move_ like that!" He eyed Sarah's slender form in appreciation, his eyes lingering on the hint of cleavage her off-the-shoulder top displayed. Sarah tugged it up a little.

"You must be pretty… limber," came another voice from the side. "Hi, I'm Ben." Ben wore an inside-out sweatshirt and a backwards ball cap. "You're sure something on the floor! Bet you'd be something in the sack, too."

"Nice, Ben. Always the gentleman," a third boy remonstrated. "Hey, Sarah." She recognized him from her English class. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight. Didn't think this was your 'thing.'"

"Hi, Bradley. It's not, but I thought I'd try something new."

"Looks like you sure took to it!" Bradley pushed Ben out of the way and sat down on Sarah's other side.

A fourth boy approached, and Sarah began to feel a little overwhelmed. Where was Jareth? "Sorry, what?" she asked, not paying attention to the redhead… Brian, was it?

"I said, you wanna go out sometime?"

"Uh, no thanks…" um, um, um, "Ryan." Yes, that was it! "I'm kinda… busy." The excuse sounded lame even to her own ears.

"Whattayamean, busy?" Ryan apparently got belligerent when he was drunk.

"Hey, if she says no, then you leave it alone!" Bradley defended her, and then ruined it by asking her, "If you'd rather go out with me, sweetie, you just say the word! I think you're awesome, Sarah. I mean it, I really do!" Bradley was apparently an affectionate drunk. He tried to put his arm around her.

Sarah, horribly uncomfortable, leaned away and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a new voice. "Hey, babe. I'm Raoul. You wanna like - "

She'd had enough. "No, thanks!" She snapped. "And in case you've forgotten, Raoul, we've met! I got you your _'A'_ on the Western Civ. 'group' project, remember?" Disgusted, Sarah jumped to her feet and went looking for Jareth.

She found him by the pool table again, holding a can of ginger ale and surrounded by four women, two of whom were Paris and Cindy. Sarah rolled her eyes. Paris just never knew when to quit!

_Another chapter on the way; I've got to hurry and upload it before the power goes out in this thunderstorm!_


	12. The Party is Over

Chapter 12: The Party is Over

Jareth looked up and saw Sarah trailed by four frat brothers. Disengaging his arms from the clutches of Cindy and Paris, he interrupted the chattering girls coldly. "As enjoyable as this has been... for you," he added, "I'm afraid you must excuse me now." He stalked over to Sarah and mutely handed her the ginger ale. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of her entourage and began counting them aloud. She giggled and cuffed him lightly.

"Hey Sandra, why'd you walk away?" Ben asked her plaintively. "You involved with this guy or something?"

_Involved_. Sarah considered the implications of that word briefly before she answered. They were not in a relationship, and they were certainly not lovers, but she thought that "involved" might cover the highly enjoyable mutual flirtation and possible friendship she and Jareth had shared for two days. "Yes, actually I am rather involved with him. Sorry, guys."

"And I don't share," Jareth told the boys with a dangerous smile as he put his arm around Sarah.

"Neither do I," Sarah informed the four girls who had drifted after Jareth like flotsam in his wake. Paris clucked her tongue and turned away in disgust, rolling her eyes at Cindy.

Jareth turned his back on the girls, focussing only on Sarah. "What would you prefer, my dear -- one more dance? Or are you ready to leave now?"

Sarah, strangely emboldened by his display of possession, leaned in and gave him a brief kiss. "We can leave when ever you like."

Not taking his eyes off her, Jareth led her to the door. "Should we take leave of our host first?" he asked.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder to see Raoul glaring drunkenly at her. She smiled sweetly and wiggled her fingers at him before the door closed behind them. "Oh," she said. "I think he knows we're gone."

Jareth smirked and glanced around. Seeing no one, he waved a hand and transported them back to Sarah's apartment. "Welcome home," he said. Eyes gleaming, he continued, "Now, about that wager. I counted four. Were there more?"

"No, just four. Looked like that's how many you got, too," she said.

"Four," he agreed. "Then it's a draw. We could either declare a rematch, or we could both claim ourselves winners."

Sarah groaned and threw herself down on the couch. "I don't think I could stomach a rematch. I'm not big on frat parties,usually.I guess we both won." She placed the back of her wrist against her forehead in a classic tragical pose and said, "Oh, dear! You mean I get a new dress for the wedding, _and_ a long visit in fairyland? Horrors! However shall I manage?"

Jareth narrowed his eyes. "That's sarcasm, isn't it?"

Sarah bounced up again, unaccountably happy. "It takes the king a little longer these days, but he eventually catches on!"

"Now you're mocking me," he accused, sounding a bit petulent.

Sarah's smile disappeared. "Jareth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you -- that was just meant as some friendly teasing."

"I am not offended, but Sarah," he hesitated, then asked, "Are we friends?"

She nodded and pulled him down to sit next to her. "I think we are," she said. "We're definitely on the right track. The only reason we didn't get along before was because of, well, circumstances beyond our control."

"And shall we stop at friendship then, my Sarah? Or shall we travel beyond it into uncharted territory?" Jareth's voice sounded whimsical, as if it were a rhetorical question he was idly putting to himself.

"I -- I don't know," Sarah replied, all her uncertainty and self-consciousness returning in a rush.

Jareth heard the tremor in her voice and wanted to reassure her. That was all, he told himself as his lips caught hers and clung. He only wanted to show her that her insecurities had no grounding in reality, he thought as he drew her into his arms and slanted his mouth to get better access to hers. It was simple reassurance, as he claimed her mouth again and again.

Then, as she parted her lips and Jareth suddenly had the taste of Sarah on his tongue, he recognized it for what it was.

Desire.

Desire slammed through him and left him reeling with its power. He forced himself to break the kiss, to back away. New sensations skittered over his body as he gazed, panting, into Sarah's wide moss-green eyes.

Sarah stared at him in shock for a moment before darting her tongue out to lick her lips. He closed his eyes and drew a deep, shaky breath.

"Sarah, I… " What should he say? What could he possibly say to distinguish himself from the frat boys who had been lusting after Sarah all night -- much like himself. She was going to think him no better than those rude, brainless children who had plagued her at the party. He drew on his dignity like he put on his gloves. "Sarah, I apologize for that. As enjoyable as it was, I should have had more restraint. Will you excuse me until tomorrow?"

Sarah nodded her head in a jerky motion, and Jareth disappeared. Still in a daze, Sarah stumbled upstairs and fell into her bed.

_More to come soon._


	13. A Healthy Measure of Royal Angst

Chapter 13: A Healthy Measure of Royal Angst

Jareth transported himself directly to his throne room and slumped carelessly into his throne. What had he been thinking, to kiss her like that? He groaned and shook his head. Sarah wouldn't want to have anything to do with him after that; he just knew it. She was going to lump him, quite rightly too, in with those panting, lusting little frat boys at the party.

But how was he to know that he was going to start feeling like this about her? He'd been quite drawn to her twelve years ago -- he knew he might have possibly even grown to love her -- but he hadn't felt such a physical expression of desire. With his kind, physical desire only accompanied the strongest feelings toward someone. Was it even possible that he'd fallen that deeply in love with Sarah in only two days?

And she'd made it plain enough that they were only friends, and just barely that. "On the right track," she'd said. Even if she did grow to love him, he knew it would take more time than he had. He had to be betrothed by the time the Dwarf King married, and that was only two weeks away.

Jareth thought of his current fiancée, and smiled sadly. Someone as pure as Arien surely deserved someone better than a bored and aging goblin king with a dual personality and darkness in the corners of his soul. He hoped that he wouldn't have to inflict himself on Taliu's only daughter, even if it meant breaking the arrangement he had made with Taliu before his friend had died.

Plus, he wanted Sarah. Oh, he wanted her! He spent the night remembering all of their previous interactions -- Sarah was pure in her way, but she had a hardness to her, a core of steel that Jareth knew could make her utterly ruthless when she had to be. Just like himself. That kind of iron was necessary in ruling his stupid, clumsy, and occasionally vicious little subjects. Arien wouldn't be able to handle it, he knew. Arien was too diffident and timid. Even though she was High Princess of the Underground, she lacked the iron determination and will that would be necessary to rule the goblins. Sarah, on the other hand, had them in spades and would do very well. Look how well Sarah had done with his subjects even as a child! By now she had the maturity, wisdom, education and grace to make him a fitting queen.

But he didn't have enough time to court her properly! It was impossible that, in the space of two weeks, he would be able to convince her to give up everything she knew and come to the Underground to be with him. He cursed himself for waiting so long to contact her; he just hadn't know where she was since she had stopped contacting Hoggle and the others, and moved out of her old room in her father's house -- a room that he knew as well as anywhere in his own domain.

And how would Sarah deal with his other incarnation when she saw him? Would the Goblin King scare her? Jareth now knew that he was totally smitten by Sarah -- but would the King feel the same way, the next time he appeared? Jareth resolved to show up as him, the next time Sarah called for him. It would be best to get all the unpleasantness out of the way in the beginning, so there'd be no ugly surprises later.

Then again, the news that Jareth wanted to marry Sarah and have her ruling next to him might come as enough of an ugly surprise to her, he admitted with a rueful groan. Not to mention the fact that there had never before been a human ruler in the Underground, and he very much doubted that the unicorns would approve of her. Their approval was required for any ruler to take the throne, and he felt sure they would not allow him to pay court to a human.

And what if the unicorns couldn't even examine her? He knew that human standards of sexuality varied greatly, and it was entirely possible that Sarah had been intimate with a man before. While the thought depressed him on the basis of his own feelings for her, it would be impossible for the unicorns to get near enough to examine her if she had. He hoped fervently that she had been chaste -- otherwise all his planning was for naught, and he'd end up married to one of the four-leggers himself.

All in all, the chances of his actually being able to marry the woman he loved were very, very slim.

"Ah, Sarah," he whispered. "What am I going to do?"


	14. To Comfort a King

Chapter 14: To Comfort a King

Sarah woke in the morning suddenly. She sat bolt upright, listening hard, trying to figure out what had awakened her. There was dead silence. No lights, no noises other than the usual ones. She sniffed the air for smoke. She was seized with a strong and sudden feeling that someone needed her. She went out into the hallway and reached for the phone, planning to call her parents and see if anything had happened. Turning to glance into her dark room, she saw a flash of light from the crystal Jareth had left behind, and she hung up the phone again.

Picking up the crystal, she peered into it -- and found to her shock that she could see Jareth again. He was not looking at her this time. He was draped bonelessly over his throne, head in his hands. His posture and the lines of his body all bespoke the worst sort of despair, and the expression on his face when he raised his head was full of bleak hopelessness.

Watching, Sarah felt a sympathetic lump form in her throat. What could have happened to the laughing, teasing, flirting Jareth of last night? As she watched, a single silver tear slipped down his face, and his shoulders trembled as if he were trying to stifle a sob.

Sarah's eyes filled and she reached out, wanting to touch him through the crystal. She stroked it once with a gentle fingertip and whispered his name.

His head jerked up and he wiped his eyes quickly as he glared around the empty room. Sarah's hand flew to cover her mouth. He'd _heard_ her? Then he looked right at Sarah through the crystal, and she knew he could see her. His face softened, going from defensive anger back to sorrow. He blinked once, sighed, and turned away. As if it were an afterthought, he reached back one gloved hand and tapped the air near the crystal.

Sarah's crystal popped like a bubble. It was gone, and so was Jareth.

Her bedside alarm rang loudly in the stillness, and she jumped to turn it off. "Well," she said ironically to the empty air, "I'm sure awake now!"

As she showered and dressed, she kept wondering what could have happened to Jareth? It was obvious she had caught him in a rather personal moment, and she felt bad for having intruded on his privacy even if it was accidental. He was a king, after all -- was he going to be angry with her for having seen him in a moment of weakness?

He had left her so suddenly last night, after their kiss, that Sarah couldn't help but think she had pushed him too far. Who kisses a woman and then apologizes for it? she asked herself as she pulled on her shoes. Especially when it was obvious the woman was a willing party to it.

Oh, dear. Sarah sat up straight, blinking. That was it, surely. He hadn't been making advances to her -- he'd been merely responding to her advances, and had accidentally let her go too far. She must have read far too much into his flirting, and assumed that something that was a natural part of his personality was instead meant for her alone.

That didn't fit in with his bleak despair from the morning, though.

Horribly confused, Sarah decided not to think about it for a while. But with nothing to do (having finished her Management project yesterday) and with Paris coming home soon (she always dragged herself in on Sunday morning, looking bushed) Sarah wasn't too keen about staying in the apartment.

She braided her hair as usual, and then snapped her fingers suddenly. She'd drive home for the day to see Toby! It was only a two-hour drive, and she hadn't had the gas money to make the trip for most of the semester. Since Jareth had been so good as to stock her fridge, though, she decided to splurge on filling the gas tank and go.


	15. The Return of the King

Chapter 15: The Return of the King

She went out and started up her battered blue Toyota, noticing with a grin that the tank was already full. "Well, thank you, Goblin King!" she murmured, putting the car into gear and starting out.

A dry, silvery voice answered, "You're welcome." Startled, her eyes shot over to stare at him in the passenger's seat. No longer dressed as a student, this was unmistakeably the Goblin King in her car. His hair was wild and spiky, his shirt was loose, his pants were tight, his boots were high, and the Goblin King's pendant sat proudly on his chest. She could tell by the tilt of his chin and the expression on his face that this was no longer just Jareth, her flirty new friend.

This was Jareth, King of the Goblins.

"Your Majesty," Sarah greeted warily, returning her eyes to the road. "To what do I owe the pleasure? You're not interested in my brother anymore, surely?"

He gave her a slow, haughty glance. "No, not your brother." He gave a humourless smile. "Not this time." He looked straight ahead, seemingly content to watch the scenery and not elaborate.

Sarah was _not_ content for him not to elaborate. Trying to draw him out (and maybe bring Jareth back) she joked, "Well, if anyone's wished away my ex-step-mother you might have a hard time finding someone who's willing to run the Labyrinth for her!"

The Goblin King didn't bother answering, merely arched an eyebrow at her and looked away. Sarah knew not how to respond, so she decided to be direct. "So why _are_ you here, Your Majesty? Have you come to take someone away, or are you just here to reminisce?"

"Sarah, Sarah," his voice was light and mocking, so like twelve years ago that it made her heart pound. "Don't you know who I've come for this time?"

Sarah's mouth went dry. She didn't know how to deal with this man, who seemed so different from Jareth, but who was actually just a different facet of him. Still determined to keep things light, she swallowed and replied, "Well, if you've come for me, I'm not sure how well I'll fit in as a goblin, Your Majesty."

His reply was a quick bark of laughter, then silence.

Sarah sighed. It was going to be a long, tense ride unless he lightened up! She decided to provoke him a little, by reminding him of what she'd seen that morning. "Uh, Your Majesty?"

"Yes?"

"I want to apologize for having spied on you this morning. It was completely inadvertent. I just woke up with this feeling that someone needed me, and then I looked in the crystal and saw you..."

The bitter look in his eyes made her stop speaking. "Yes," he said. "I was the one. I hadn't meant to disturb you with my brooding."

"You were the one, what?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know what to think! Actually, if you want the truth, I'm just a little intimidated by having the Goblin King in my car as I'm driving to visit my family!" Sarah's voice had risen a little, but she was pleased that it hadn't gotten shaky. She certainly _felt_ shaky, but knew that it was the kiss of doom to show weakness in front of this incarnation of Jareth. "I don't know what you want, and I don't know how to deal with you, and I'm a little worried that you're going to try something with my family!"

"I assure you, they are quite safe," he drawled, amusement colouring his tone.

"And me?"

"What about you?"

"Am I safe?"

"Have I ever hurt you?"

"Are you planning to, this time?" With the rapid-fire exchange, Sarah knew they were playing a new game. It was like the time she watched "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," when the title characters played a game of tennis using questions instead of racquets and balls. The first one to actually answer one of the questions lost a point.

"Now, why would I do that?" Now she knew the king had caught on.

"How should I know? You haven't exactly been forthcoming," Sarah paused long enough for him to start smirking before she added the tag question, "Have you?" She grinned, noting his sour expression. She'd tricked him.

"Isn't it more fun to guess?" he teased.

"How much depends on the outcome?" She demanded.

"How high do you want the stakes to be?" he countered, a smile beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth.

"How much can you afford?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Am I not a king?"

Sarah asked innocently, "Oh, are we talking about money, then?"

"What else have you to offer?" Yes, he was definitely smiling now as he glanced over and raked her frame with a sidelong look.

"What, me? Now, what would you want with me?" Sarah blushed, but was determined to see this game to the finish.

"Why don't you think you'd make a good goblin?"

"Well, aren't they a bit... stupid?"

"And you're not?" he grinned openly now.

Sarah laughed aloud, exhilarated by the game. "What does that say about you, considering that you lost to me?"

The king's laughter joined hers after a stunned moment as he acknowledged the point. Then he asked, "So if you're too smart to be a good goblin, why else would I be interested in you?"

"Masochism?" Sarah offered sweetly.

His brow furrowed in puzzlement. "What?" He sought clarification, but it was still within the unspoken rules of the game.

"Well, if you enjoy being defeated, wouldn't I be fun to have around?"

"What makes you think I enjoy being defeated, Sarah?" his scowl was back, and his voice, sharp.

"Why else would you have come back for round two?"

"You think you could defeat me twice?"

"Why, what have you done to the Labyrinth since I left?"

"Don't you wish you knew?" His smile was back, if a mocking one.

"Are you setting me up for a fall?"

"Why? Are you losing your balance?" he countered swiftly.

Sarah darted him a sharp look and muttered something under her breath -- being careful to phrase it as a question, just in case he overheard her.

He did, but made her repeat it anyway. "Pardon?"

"I said, 'Why do I get the feeling I'm being pushed?'" Sarah repeated.

The king's rich laughter filled the tiny car and he leaned back, victorious. "Statement, Sarah. I win."

"What? No, that was a question!" Sarah cried in outrage.

"Afraid not, my dear. When you repeated it, your question was contained within the statement of what you'd said. My game, I believe."

Sarah was silent, repeating the last few lines in her head, and then she groaned when she realized he was right. "Oh, damn," she muttered. "You _were_ setting me up for a fall!" she accused.

His grin was mocking. "A slip, yes. Possibly even a tumble, but not a fall. Sarah, would you please pull over here?" He gestured with one hand, and a pull-off clearing appeared ahead on the right.

Sarah sighed, her mind turning over the implications of the word "tumble," and flipped on her blinker.

_Author's note: Letylyf, thanks for your review. I hope the pace picks up for you as the story goes along, but if not, I do want to know about it. I didn't actually intend for_ mature _to be a euphemism for_ dull_, though I found your comparison of the two fairly amusing considering how true that is in real life. Sorry if it's coming across that way! Hope your opinion changes as the story progresses…but I'm still not going to have anybody getting slapped:)_

_Everyone else, thanks for the reviews—you guys are great. Sorry about the typos in the previous two chapters; I'm breaking in a new (split) keyboard and sometimes the space-bar hasn't been registering. As many as I've found have been corrected, thanks to those who brought it to my attention. Do keep on reviewing, please!_


	16. Pull Over at your Own Risk

Chapter 16: Pull Over at your Own Risk

When the car stopped, the Goblin King got out and went around to open Sarah's door and draw her out to stand with him. Sarah slammed the door behind her, and was promptly slammed against it herself. The king cupped her face in firm, gloved fingers and lowered his mouth to hers. His body came flush against hers, and Sarah's breath caught in her throat at the feeling of his slender, undeniably aroused frame pressed tightly against hers.

The kiss was incredible. Gone were Jareth's tender brushes of the lips, his gentleness that Sarah had found so appealing. The Goblin King was not gentle, and he made no secret of his hunger for her as his hands slid behind her head to hold it in place as he ravished her mouth. Sarah's heart thundered and she reached up to bury her fingers in his wild mane of pale hair. She had never felt such a keen longing in her life, never felt such a blatant need. When the king finally broke the kiss and allowed her to draw breath, Sarah realized she was lightheaded and sagged against him. His lips went to her neck then, his hands pushing her blouse down her shoulder before he attacked it with his mouth. Sarah made a strangled sound, clutching the back of his shirt in a white-knuckled grip as she gasped out his name. "Jareth..!"

And suddenly his grip loosened and he slid his arms around her, supporting her and holding her tightly against him. "Oh, Sarah," he whispered. With a shaky hand he drew her shirt back up over her shoulder and stepped back to look at her face.

Eyes wide, lips reddened, and panting, Sarah gazed back at him, realizing that it was Jareth now. The Goblin King was gone along with his spiky hair, low-cut shirt, and pendant. Jareth wore a leather jacket with an uneven collar, open over a high-necked ruffled shirt like the one he had worn in the Ballroom. His hair was tamer as well, lying softly over his shoulders.

He leaned close, gently stroking her shoulders with gloved hands. "Oh, Sarah. I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-no," Sarah replied, her body still humming with arousal. "I wouldn't call it pain. Exactly."

"Oh!" Jareth smirked with the realization of what the problem was, and drew her back into his arms to hold her for a few more minutes. "Should I apologize for that, or not?" he asked with a gently teasing tone.

"Uh... I- I'm not sure," Sarah replied, now beginning to blush. "Jareth, what on earth is going on?" She stepped back in an attempt to calm down her rocketing hormones.

"I am sorry about that, Sarah. I had been planning to let you visit your family in peace, but when you invoked the Goblin King's name I had to show up as him. I guess he must have thought you needed company for the long drive or something. I certainly didn't intend to get caught up in another game with you!"

"Yes, well... His Majesty seemed to find it... stimulating," Sarah said with a wry smile. Her smile widened when she noticed that Jareth was... No, it couldn't be! She absently wondered just how many mortals had ever been treated to the sight of Jareth... _blushing_! Unable to resist, she went on, "When you told me that you _loved_ games, I had no idea you meant you meant it carnally!"

"Yes, well," he said uncomfortably, "That was new for both of us. Shall we go?" he asked politely, opening her door for her. He walked painfully back to the passenger's side and eased himself back into the seat.

Sarah laughed, but let it go and started the car again. "So..." she said as the silence threatened to stretch as long as the miles. "Now that we're both here, want to tell me what's going on?"

"Are you referring to what you saw this morning? Or my presence here now?"

Sarah shrugged. "Either. Both. You leave so suddenly last night, apparently spend the morning brooding, and then show up here in all your intimidating royal grandeur when all I did was say thanks for filling my gas tank. I don't think I'm reading too much into it when I say I think there's something larger going on here than you taking me to a wedding."

Jareth nodded slowly. "You are right; there is."

Sarah chose her next words carefully, not wanting to pry too much, but not wanting to remain in the dark either. "Is it something I should know? Anything I can help with?"

"Yes," Jareth answered both questions at once. Shooting her a swift glance, he went on, "But not yet."

Sarah frowned thoughtfully but said nothing. Jareth sighed. "There are a number of ramifications to everything I do as a king, both personal and political. Please don't think badly of me for having to consider how much I tell you--or when."

Sarah nodded. "So it's on a need-to-know basis, and I don't need to know yet. Is that right?"

Jareth thought over her statement. "That is essentially correct."

"I understand. I think." There was an awkward pause, and Sarah realized they were more than two-thirds of the way to her parents' house. She decided to change the subject. "So, are you coming with me to meet my parents? Or are you just coming along for the ride?"

"Is that an invitation?" he asked. "Do you want your parents to meet me?"

"That depends. How long are you going to stick around?" Sarah wanted to know. It was actually one of the burning questions that had been buzzing around her mind for the last 24 hours. "I mean, are you going to be showing up a lot from now on? Or is this just two weeks of mad flirtation until the wedding, and then you'll disappear for another dozen years or so?"

Jareth's tone sounded grim, as if he knew he wouldn't like the answer he got as he told her, "I would like to be part of your life, Sarah, if I would be welcome."

Sarah smiled, a great weight lifted from her shoulders. "Then I'll introduce you to my family." There was a long pause and she finished quietly, "And you're very welcome." With a grin, she amended, "Both of you!"

Jareth laughed in relief. "Think Toby will remember me?"

Sarah scoffed. "I doubt it. He was less than 2 years old when you took him."

"Ah, but he was such a lively little chap," Jareth teased. "I'll bet he does remember!"

"He won't."

"How much are you willing to bet?"

Sarah laughed. "Oh, no, not this again! Honestly, Jareth, how can you afford to make all these bets all the time?"

"Simple; I rarely lose."

"All right. I'll bet you twenty-four hours that he won't remember you. If he does, I'll stay an extra day in the Underground, but if he doesn't, you have to visit me for a whole day. Next weekend. Deal?"

"Deal." Jareth was immeasurably pleased by the stakes. He sat back in the seat, looking smug.

_Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but I was busy working on the ending to this story. You'll be pleased to know it's within two chapters of the end! Or at least, **I'm** pleased to know that. I just have to add a few more things and then I'll be able to call it done. Won't that be nice? --CL_


	17. Meeting the Family

Chapter 17: Meeting the Family

As Sarah pulled into the driveway, Jareth changed his hair and outfit to the same one he had worn the night before, and waved a quick hand towards his hair making it short and spiky-looking. His eye-streaks disappeared and he flashed her a quick grin as he got out of the car.

The visit went surprisingly well. Sarah introduced Jareth to her father as "Jareth King," and smiled mischievously when he arched a quizzical eyebrow at the name.

Toby came rocketing down the stairs when he heard her voice. "Sarah!" he cried as he threw his arms around her. Though his father often bewailed his snotty teenage attitude, he and Sarah had always shared a special bond.

"Hey, kid!" she greeted happily. "My God, Toby, you're huge!" It was true; he was the same height she was now. "Here, I want you to meet someone. Toby, this is Jareth."

Toby glanced over at the blond, jeans-wearing man with his sister, and eyes widened. His mouth fell open. "Jareth?" he asked, incredulous. He blinked several times in shock.

Sarah and Jareth both shot him suspicious looks. He wasn't even two when he had last seen the Goblin King--he couldn't possibly remember him. Could he? "Hello, Toby," Jareth said quietly, brutally aware of Sarah's father standing nearby.

"Jare - Jareth," Toby replied with a jerky nod. He still couldn't tear his eyes from Jareth's face.

"Jareth. That's a... different sort of name. So, Jareth, where you from? You don't sound American," Robert Williams asked.

"Britain," Jareth replied, still keeping a watchful eye on Toby. It was the closest to the truth that the man would believe. The first fae who interacted with humans and learned their language had been in the British Isles; therefore every educated fae in the Underground spoke English like an Englishman.

"Do you go to school with Sarah? What's your field of study?"

"Political," Jareth said smoothly. "I am currently involved with a diplomatic project of some importance to the governments of several different countries." There now, he hadn't lied.

"Aren't you kind of old to be a college student?" Robert joked.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Jareth's a non-traditional student, like me, Dad." She used the college's term for older students.

Toby let out a choked laugh. "I'll bet!" he muttered under his breath. Sarah and Jareth both looked at him sharply, then at each other. Sarah's shoulders slumped. Toby knew.

"Toby, be polite," his father warned.

Toby rolled his eyes, but cleared his throat and asked, "So how did you two meet each other?" He sat back, smirking, obviously wondering how they were going to answer this one.

Looking straight at Toby, Jareth told him evenly, "I met Sarah once before, a long time ago, but we didn't get along then. We fought all the time. Then I recently went to a party on a dare, and Sarah was there. We resolved our previous misunderstandings and are trying to be friends now."

Sarah marveled at how every word Jareth spoke was the literal truth, yet he shaded it to sound normal. She jumped up. "Hey, Toby, I was going to take Jareth down to the park where we used to hang out. Want to come?"

"That depends," Toby said, rather sulkily. "Will I be coming back?" His tone was snide, and Robert sighed over his son's manners.

Sarah laughed nervously. "Of course you are, hon. I don't have room in my apartment to kidnap you!"

"Yeah, but if we're talking about kidnapping, I bet Jareth has a big house," Toby said stubbornly.

"Toby!" Robert Williams exclaimed, shocked at his son's rudeness.

"Which you're welcome to visit with Sarah anytime, but may leave whenever you wish," Jareth told Toby quietly in a low voice, so that the boy's father wouldn't hear.

"Okay then," Toby said. "Let's go."

_Hope you're enjoying it; review and let me know in either case. Thanks!_


	18. Sarah, Queen of Denial

Chapter 18: Sarah, Queen of Denial

No one said anything as they walked to the park. Toby kicked along a rock, and Sarah and Jareth walked side by side without touching. As if by mutual consent, they followed the path that crossed the bridge and went into the part of the park where Sarah used to practice her lines from "Labyrinth."

Sarah sat down on the park bench, while Jareth leaned against the edge of the fountain. Toby, grinning, stood up on a rock as if it were a podium. "All right," he said. "Anyone want to tell me why my sister is hanging out here on a Sunday with the Goblin King?"

Jareth burst out laughing, and by the time he'd composed himself he had changed into the Goblin King. The changes were subtle, since he still maintained his modern dress, but suddenly his hair was a little longer and there was a cold darkness in his eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Always said he was a lively little chap," he told Sarah mockingly. "I should have raised the stakes and played for a week!"

Sarah buried her head in her hands for a moment, then looked up pleadingly. "Toby, it's not what you think!"

"It's not?" Toby said sarcastically. "So you're not bringing the Goblin King to meet your family like he was a new boyfriend? Not to mention it certainly looks like the two of you are wishing I was somewhere else so you could suck face a bit!"

"Toby!" Sarah said, scandalized.

The king laughed again and strode over to Toby. He placed a royal hand on the boy's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You're a very astute young man, Toby." The Goblin King let out an evil chuckle. "I knew I should have kept you."

Toby blinked as a hazy memory popped into his mind -- of this man smiling into his face before, and singing to him... but he looked different then. "Can - can I see the way you looked then?" he asked, awed but excited.

The king glanced around and, seeing no one but them, transformed in a swirl of glitter into the old Goblin King that Toby had seen. He wore the grey tights and black vest, along with the billowy white shirt, and his hair was once more long and wild, framing his face like a lion's mane.

"It's you," Toby whispered. "It's really you!"

Sarah, behind them, groaned and hid her face again, muttering, "Oh, tell me this is not happening!"

They both ignored her. Toby gazed at the Goblin King with an ever-broadening smile. "I remember you!" He burst into a delighted laugh. Then he frowned thoughtfully as he realized that he was eye to eye with the king. "You're a... LOT shorter than I remember."

"Oh, I am not seeing this," Sarah muttered. "I'm not up to seeing the Goblin King making small talk with my little brother." She was once again ignored.

The king raised an eyebrow. "I haven't shrunk, I assure you." He cast a sidelong glance at Sarah, to see if she'd caught the dual entendre.

"I am not hearing this," Sarah chanted to herself. "La la la la la!"

"So what are you doing hanging out with my sister?" Toby asked.

"Oh, so protective of her, aren't you?" the king mocked him lightly. "Worried I'm going to whisk her away to the Underground with me?" He leaned closer and whispered, "It's a valid concern."

"Oh, no," Sarah muttered. She looked up, finally. "Jareth!" she chided.

The Goblin King changed to once again appear as Sarah's college friend. Toby looked a little disappointed. "So... _do_ you wish I was somewhere else so you two could suck face?" he asked, smirking.

Jareth chuckled. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for that later," he assured Toby but with a another quick glance at Sarah. She flushed.

"So that story you told me in there was true?" Toby asked Jareth. "About you and Sarah? You're not enemies?"

"We never were, really," Sarah stood up and finally joined the conversation. "We were opponents only because of what I did. Never enemies, no matter what."

"But Hoggle said that -- " Too late, Toby stopped talking and turned red.

"Hoggle? What do you know of Hoggle?" Sarah demanded. Toby cringed. Sarah advanced on him, biting off each word separately. "How. Do. You. Know. Hoggle?"

"He comes and visits me sometimes," Toby told her fearfully. Jareth gave him a little smile and Toby felt a little of his courage return. "I heard you call him once, a long time ago, and when I tried it he came to see me. We're friends, Sarah."

"But -- Hoggle, here? With me away at school? How can he -- " She turned to Jareth for answers.

"Sarah," he said gently. "Hoggle became friends with Toby because I wished it."

"What? Why--why?" Sarah barked. Angry now, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shot green sparks.

"I've been using Hoggle to watch over Toby," Jareth said. "The same way I use my crystals to watch over you."

Sarah took a deep breath and asked Jareth in a low, dead voice, "Why, after all I went through to protect Toby from the Labyrinth -- from you! -- would you sneak around behind my back and introduce him to it all over again? And... what do you mean, 'watch over'? You mean you spy on me with crystals?"

"If you knew of a treasure, Sarah," he explained, "A precious thing that you knew you had no business keeping in your possession but was still the most valuable and beautiful thing you'd ever seen, wouldn't you want to keep track of it? Make sure it didn't get tossed into the rubbish heap or something? Try and take care of it as best you could?"

Sarah, thinking he meant her actions with Toby, turned away still fuming.

Toby touched his sister's sleeve. "Hoggle doesn't _have_ any other friends, Sarah, and neither do I." He stepped back and glanced at Jareth. "If you're really the one who sent Hoggle to me, Jareth, then thank you."

"You're welcome," Jareth said sombrely.

"Will..." Toby dropped his eyes. "Will you come and visit me sometime too, Jareth?"

Jareth bowed in assent. "I'd be honoured."

Sarah turned blazing eyes on him. "You leave my brother alone!"

Jareth smiled and clucked his tongue. "He's just invited me, himself, Sarah." He cleared his throat and gave her a lazy smile, making sure she felt the impact of every word he spoke. "_You have no power over me!_"

He saw she was still furious, so he relented. "To set your mind at rest, though, I give my word that I won't take him unless he asks me to." He waved to Toby, blew Sarah a kiss, and disappeared. A white owl flew away, dipping its wings at them in a cocky way before it vanished through the trees.

"Whoa!" Toby said. "He is so cool!"

"Yeah, right," Sarah muttered. "So cool, telling me my job and jabbering about treasures..." She shook her head and glanced at her brother. "Toby, you know I would never let you get 'tossed on the rubbish heap,' right? Jareth doesn't know what he's talking about! I'll always take care of you!"

Toby looked at her in disgust. "Sarah, you can be pretty thick sometimes. _You're_ the treasure, you moron! Come on, let's go home."

"Where's Jareth?" their father asked when they returned home without him.

Without even a moment of hesitation, and with _sang-frois_ far beyond his years, Toby replied, "Oh, he had to take off."

_Reviewing will make my day._


	19. Old Friends

Chapter 19: Old Friends

Sarah had a long, lonely drive back to college. She had a lot to think about. She spent the first hour muttering dire imprecations about nosy, spying goblin kings, and the second hour thinking about what he and Toby had said. By the time she pulled into the parking lot by the student apartments she was feeling very foolish indeed.

Paris was there, doing homework at the kitchen table. She looked up as Sarah walked in. "Yo, Sar," she greeted. "How'd things go with Mister Bitchy? Didja get some last night?"

Sarah emphatically did not want to talk to Paris about Jareth -- but she did want to talk to someone. "It went okay," she said. "He's pretty cool," she said in a non-committal voice as she headed up the stairs.

"Cool, you say? Hot is what I'd call him," Paris muttered, then shrugged and got back to work.

Sarah went into her room and locked the door, then, not wanting to take any chances, slid her bureau over to block it. Heart in her throat, she sat down at her desk and looked up at the mirror she'd installed for this very purpose but had never used. "Hog -- " she cleared her throat. "Hoggle? I need you."

Sitting at a conference table in the middle of his meeting with the troll-king and the dwarf-king, Jareth felt the shift in magic and suddenly smiled.

Hoggle appeared in the mirror. "Sarah? It's been so long!"

"I know, Hoggle. I'm sorry. Things are... complicated." She helped him out of the mirror. Slyly she looked at him. "Toby says hi."

As she'd known he would, he looked away and blushed. "So you... you know about that, huh?"

"Let's just say I've had a very illuminating weekend," Sarah said. "Jareth has been fairly omnipresent for a few days."

Hoggle nodded. "He hasn't been around here very much. My king is getting fairly put out with him, because Jareth promised to help him with the wedding arrangements. Mighta known you were the distraction! He's always kinda had a soft spot for you."

Sarah giggled, amused to learn of Jareth's neglecting his duties. "Hoggle, can you take him a message for me? I don't want to call him again if he's busy, but I need to tell him something. We kind of had a fight and I want to smooth things over."

"Cor, missy, you don't need me for that," Hoggle told her, laughing. He handed her a crystal. "Write down whatever you want sent, put this on top of it, and just wish it to him. Better than the U. S. Post, I can tell you."

Sarah smiled. "Thanks, Hoggle." She got out a sheet of paper and hesitated for a moment before beginning to write.

_Dear King Jareth, _there, that ought to cover both bases, she thought, addressing it to both Jareth and the Goblin King at once

_I apologize for losing my temper with you today. I had no right to be angry; I was just very surprised. This is one of those "need-to-know basis" things, isn't it? I promise to try and not react to all of them that way!_

_Can you forgive me?_

_Your affectionate friend,_

_Sarah_

Sarah placed the crystal on top of the letter and said aloud, "I wish for King Jareth to have this letter." It promptly disappeared and the crystal flickered.

_A/N: Fret not: there's a longer chapter to follow._


	20. Watching the Master at Work

Chapter 20: Watching the Master at Work

Sarah and Hoggle leaned over to gaze into it. They saw Jareth at the conference table arguing with a fearsome, gigantic creature with long arms and a club, and a tiny, belligerent creature that looked not unlike Hoggle. "That's His Majesty King Daxon of the Dwarves," Hoggle said. "The other one is King Blug of the Trolls."

They watched as Jareth leaned forward and shook his fist in the Troll King's face. Sarah smiled to see him looking so small and dainty in comparison -- but Jareth didn't seem to see the difference in their sizes. He's like one of those tiny dogs, she thought, who scares away the big ones because of the size of their bravado rather than their bodies. Watching him in conference was like watching a Chihuahua ripping the Mastiff a new one!

Jareth leaned back and folded his arms, shaking his head vehemently. The Dwarf King made a comment that raised the ire of the Troll, and Sarah watched, amused, as Jareth smoothed things over by the simple expedient of magically tying up and gagging them both.

She watched as a crystal rolled in and bounced into Jareth's hand. It turned into a letter, which he read quickly and shoved triumphantly into the Troll King's face. Whatever was on it made the Troll King back down, grumbling. The Dwarf King laughed and Jareth nodded in stern satisfaction. Almost as an afterthought, he waved his hand and released their bonds.

Another crystal rolled in and Jareth reached down for it to jump into his hand. This one turned into a letter too, that Jareth skimmed over once, before leaning back to read it more slowly. He began to smile, ignoring the two other kings' curiosity. He turned his head and looked right at Sarah in the crystal, and winked at her.

He took a pen and briefly scrawled a note on the bottom of hers, then blew on it and it was gone.

Sarah jumped as it reappeared under Hoggle's crystal. Her friend grinned and pulled it out, reading it before she had a chance to.

_"Dearest Sarah, Call me and I'll come as soon as I can get away from these two blithering idiots. Yours, J." _

"Give me that!" Sarah demanded.

Hoggle grinned. "Woo-woo, looks like you're more than a distraction now, 'dearest Sarah.'" He skipped around the room, laughing as Sarah chased him.

"Hoggle, give me that right now!"

The chase continued for several minutes, with Hoggle taunting Sarah about being in looooooooove (that's how he said it) with "That Rat who calls himself Jareth." Sarah finally cornered him beside the bed and snatched the letter out of his calloused little hands. Throwing herself back on the bed, she read the note again and blushed.

"It wasn't nice of him to call my king a blithering idiot," Hoggle grunted, sitting down next to her on the edge. He raised a bushy eyebrow at her. "Well, Sarah, aren't you going to call him?"

"With you here?"

"Why not? It'll save me writing him a report."

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know? He made us write reports on you every time we visited. He wanted to know how you looked, what your room looked like, if we thought you were happy... all of it."

Sarah's jaw dropped in shock, and then she started to laugh. "That Jareth!" she said in exasperation, and laughed some more. "I might have known!"

"Might have known what?" asked Jareth's silvery-smooth voice from where he suddenly appeared in the desk chair. Hoggle leaped to his feet and bowed.

Sarah giggled. "You made them write reports about me! I can just imagine what Ludo's would have sounded like."

Jareth grimaced. "Two of three pages of 'Sawah, fwiend,' usually." Hoggle went to Jareth and bowed again. "Yes, Haggler?"

"Hoggle, Sire. My report is that Sarah was unhappy at first, but rallied admirably after she got Your Majesty's message."

Sarah blushed again. "Hoggle!"

"Thank you, Hoggle. Oh, and one more thing." Hoggle turned back and waited. Jareth grinned and conjured a crystal to toss at the dwarf. "Go home." Hoggle caught the crystal and was gone.

"Now then, Sarah," Jareth purred, rounding on the woman still lying on her bed. "What shall I do with you?" He advanced on her, stalking her like a cat. Sarah started to look a little nervous; what would happen when he pounced? "So you'll try not to get angry as you find out more things, will you? Well, I'm not sure that will do at all. You see, you're really quite breathtaking when you're angry," he said towering over her prone form. "And then there's always..." he sat down beside her on the bed, "...the pleasure..." he leaned over her, his hair falling forward to brush her face, "...of making up afterwards." He kissed her.

_A/N: I got a bunch of requests for more fluff, so I figured ah, what the heck. Enjoy!_


	21. Underground High Royalty

Chapter 21: Underground High Royalty

Sarah felt as if she were drowning in sensation. Jareth's lips were soft and coaxing on hers as he eased her backwards onto the bed, and Sarah soon gave up trying to resist. Her hands slid up around his neck, into his hair, as she pulled him close and gave herself over to the sensations he evoked.

Finally he pulled back and Sarah made a soft noise of protest. He smiled ruefully and sat up. "Much as I would love to continue this for hours, Sarah, I want you to meet someone. Come with me."

Sarah lay there a moment to catch her breath, and then sat up. She put her hand into Jareth's outstretched one, and almost lost her balance as the room shifted around her. Then she blinked. They were no longer in her cramped little bedroom in the dingy off-campus apartment, but in a beautifully moonlit garden. White flowers shone silver in the moonlight, and perfumed the air with their scent. "Oh!" Sarah cried in wonder. "It's lovely! Where are we?"

"A highly magical spot at the edge of my kingdom. Wait." Sarah was silent for a moment, looking around.

Then Jareth pointed wordlessly and Sarah's hand flew to her mouth. A white unicorn was trotting across the grass toward them. Jareth stepped forward to meet it, and made a shallow bow. He removed one glove and reached out to touch its turquoise horn for a moment. A drop of blood welled to his finger and he grinned at the unicorn. "Still sharp, Alia," he said.

The unicorn spoke in his mind. "_Jareth, why have you brought a human here?"_

Sarah could not hear the unicorn's thoughts, and was puzzled at Jareth's next words.

"I wanted you to meet her. She is... a possible candidate," Jareth admitted.

If the unicorn had had eyebrows, they would have lifted. She threw her head back and looked suspiciously down her long nose at him. "_I will assess her and give you my opinion. But do not expect great things. She is human, and you know what they are."_

"I do, yes. Probably better than you, Alia."

The unicorn snorted at this and trotted over to Sarah, speaking her words directly into Sarah's mind_. "Do not fear me, human child. I merely wish to know what about you would possibly attract the interest of a goblin king."_

Sarah lifted her chin as the unicorn nosed her all over. She somehow got the impression she was being weighed and found wanting. Finally the unicorn finished and blew air out through her nose sharply. She turned and rejoined Jareth.

"_What is it that makes her a candidate?"_ Alia wanted to know.

"She solved my labyrinth and defeated me," Jareth said. "She is my equal."

Sarah was bewildered, hearing only his half of the conversation. Having heard the unicorn's voice in her mind, she realized that was how Alia was communicating with Jareth.

Alia snorted again. _"Jareth, do not waste my time."_

"She is my equal," he insisted. He hesitated, and added softly, "And...with your permission, she will be attending King Daxon's wedding with me."

Alia nickered softly; to Sarah it sounded like laughter. _"And what of my daughter?"_

Jareth bowed, fearing that he had given offence. "I think we both know that your daughter and I would not suit," he said formally.

Alia eyed him with amusement. "_You're just prejudiced against the four-legged,"_ she accused playfully.

He grinned. "Not for most things, Alia. You know Taliu was my best friend for centuries. It's just that I could not possibly take a wife who calls me 'Uncle Jareth.' Not to mention one whose stall I'd have to clean every day!"

Sarah, listening to him, had to stifle a giggle at the image.

Alia tossed her head in mock-outrage and changed the subject. _"I will test your lady, Jareth. If she passes, she shall be a candidate. If she fails, then you had better buy a shovel for my daughter's stall."_

Jareth, chuckling softly, nodded and stood aside so Alia could approach Sarah again. "Sarah, reach out and touch the end of Alia's horn," he directed.

Slightly nervous, Sarah did so. She felt a sharp pain as the horn pierced the pad of her finger, but she did not move. Finally Alia lowered her head and stepped back, this time speaking into both their minds at once. _"She is a candidate."_

"A candidate for what?" Sarah asked.

They both heard and felt Alia's amusement. _"She doesn't know? Jareth, you brought her here, and didn't tell her why?"_

Jareth flushed. "I have my reasons, Alia."

"_I suppose you do. You realize, though, if she is a successful candidate, you can never see us again after your marriage."_

Jareth hung his head. "It cannot be helped, my friend. I do have a kingdom to run, and I have no heirs."

"_And I should be glad you're finally paying attention to your duties,"_ Alia told him firmly. _"But in case this human accepts you, you may make your oath to me now."_ And she lowered her delicate head to rest on Jareth's shoulder.

Jareth put his arms around Alia's neck and held her for a long moment, then stepped back and kissed first one side of her horsey face, then the other. Then he stepped back and spoke formally. "Alia of the Unicorns, High Queen of the Underground: I, Jareth of the Goblin Kingdom, do bid you farewell as I enter the next phase of my rule. I shall miss you, but promise to uphold my oath to you and all your people."

There was a light clattering sound, and Sarah caught her breath as a smaller, daintier unicorn trotted out of the mist up to Jareth. She was beautiful; she looked as if she'd been formed out of mist and moonlight. Was this Alia's daughter? Somehow she knew it was, as Jareth dropped to one knee and hugged her around the neck. He kissed her cheeks too, and touched the tip of her horn with his bare hand. Then he stood up wiping the fresh blood from his finger, and beckoned to Sarah.

"This is Arien," he told her, pulling his glove back on. "The daughter of two of my closest friends, Alia and her husband Taliu, who has passed on. Arien, this is Sarah, who shall be attending King Daxon's wedding with me."

"_So you decided to go with a two-legger after all,"_ Arien's voice sounded wispy and amused in their minds.

"It seemed best, all things considered," Jareth said dryly. Sarah got the feeling there were vast undercurrents to the conversation that she hoped would be filled in later.

"_Perhaps it's just as well. You're much too old for me anyway, Uncle Jareth."_ The small unicorn nuzzled Sarah. _"Come, Sarah, touch my horn."_

Sarah reached out and touched it briefly, wincing at the pain of the puncture.

Arien nuzzled her again. _"She'll do. But remember, a two-legger will never dance as well as I can! It's a balance thing."_ Sarah got the distinct impression that the delicate little unicorn was laughing at them.

Jareth chuckled. Then Arien and her mother faded into the moonlight, leaving Sarah and Jareth alone.

_A/N: Delving a little deeper into Underground politics was rather fun for me. What do the rest of you think? And Solea, you'll be pleased to know that my fraggin' defrag is finally finished. ("And there was great rejoicing...")_


	22. A Moonlight Serenade, or Perhaps a Lulla...

Chapter 22: A Moonlight Serenade...or Perhaps a Lullaby?

After the unicorns vanished, Sarah took Jareth's arm and gazed at him quizzically. "So how much of that are you going to explain to me tonight?" she asked. "Any?"

He nodded. "Some." He put his hand over hers at the crook of his elbow and walked with her through the garden. "This was a sort of test, for both of us. I was close friends with Taliu, Alia's husband and the former leader of the Unicorns. Since his death, Alia is their leader and also a very dear friend of mine. They are part of my kingdom, but not my subjects. What you saw was, among other things, the breakup of an arranged marriage."

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "You were engaged?" She was thinking of all that kissing and flirtation, and she let go of his arm quite suddenly.

"Yes.To Arien. It was more a formality than anything else, originally, because all the monarchs here must have some plan to marry when they take the throne. My ascension was rather... sudden, and I had no immediate marriage plans. SoTaliu decided to arrange a match between his daughter and me, should he ever have a daughter. It satisfied the High Council enough to allow me to take the throne, but now that I have reigned for so long and remained unmarried, I have been pretty much bound by that promise.

"How long were you engaged?"

"Since before her father died more than a millenium ago."

Sarah smiled. "You people sure believe in long engagements, don't you?" she teased.

"There were extenuating circumstances," Jareth told her, laughter in his voice. "Among other things, unicorns are impossible to house-train. I wasn't actually kidding about having to muck out her stall every day!"

Sarah couldn't help it. Peals of laughter rang through the garden. Imagining the most innocent and magical of creatures crapping at all came as a shock to Sarah (and the thought of them crapping all over Jareth's castle amused her even more). Jareth laughed with her, unable to help himself.

Finally, grinning, she shook her head, remembering the biting fairies from her first trip to the Labyrinth.. "Don't take anything for granted," she reminded herself. "So, what was the deal with the finger-pricking horns?"

Jareth hesitated; they were skirting around a few major issues here that he'd rather not get into just yet. "It was a magical promise," he said. "Alia extracted a blood oath, literally, that you would cause no harm to the Underground. Arien, as her daughter and heir, did the same."

Sarah shook her head. "Why would I want to harm the Underground?" Suddenly suspicious, she stopped him. "Jareth, what am I a candidate for?"

Jareth took a deep breath. He'd have to tell her. He took her hand off his arm and held it in his re-gloved one. A stone bench appeared behind them and they both sat down.

In the moonlight Jareth's steel-grey eyes looked almost black, and his pale hair shone white. "Surely you must have guessed by now that my intentions toward you are serious, Sarah," he said evenly. "I have always been fond of you; you must know that. I have been trying very hard over the last few days to make you fond of me as well."

"I... am. Quite fond of you," Sarah assured him.

"Then I must be doing something right," Jareth teased. "Sarah, there are more things about this -- about me -- that I cannot tell you yet, but that will become clear over the next week. I ask for your patience until I am able to tell you everything."

"Do you love her?" Sarah asked quite suddenly, and then clapped her hand to her mouth. She'd been wondering, but hadn't meant to just blurt out the question that was going to make her sound jealous and insecure.

He nodded. "Very much."

Sarah's heart sank.

Jareth continued, knowingly teasing the dark-haired woman beside him. "Yes, very, very much. Taliu and I were as close to brothers as two different species can get. She's the dearest little niece I could ever want."

Sarah swallowed her retort somewhat awkwardly, and just said, "Oh." Sheleaned her head against his shoulder. His arm came up around her and held her close. "Can you tell me why you had to say goodbye to the unicorns? I got the impression this was the last time you'd see them."

"It might be, if all goes well," Jareth said. "The last time in private, at any rate. I should miss them greatly, but would hope to have certain... compensations."

Again, Sarah felt undercurrents there that she knew nothing about, but this time she just left it be. "You'll tell me when the time comes?"

"Yes. You'll trust me until then?"

"Yes."

Jareth smiled and tipped her face up to kiss. "You're very trusting of an old adversary," he teased, his lips brushing hers as he spoke.

"You've never hurt me," Sarah whispered against his lips. She pulled his face down to hers and gave him a sweet, lingering kiss.

He put his arms around her. "And I never will, Sarah. I swear it!" he said, sounding almost fierce. He kissed her again, harder, then said her name again, with the unique, sibilant savour that only he could give it -- almost as if he were tasting the word."Sarah. Sarah, will you stay with me tonight? Here, in the Underground?" Sarah hesitated, thinking of her Management project due first thing in the morning.

He grinned. "I promise to be a gentleman, just as long as you promise not to invoke my other persona," he said, referring to what had passed between them in the car earlier. "And you don't need to worry about your morning classes, either. I'll return you to the moment we left. Will you stay?"

"I'll stay," Sarah said.

Jareth smiled. "Remember you said that," he warned laughingly. He stroked her face with a gloved finger, looked around at the moonlit flowers, and started to sing. What was it about words that just never seemed to get the message across unless you sung them?

**Come and live in my evenings of magic, my love,**

**With your mind of a sage and your eyes of a dove**

**I'll keep you safe from all evil that comes from above,**

**When you're here in my arms, and my kingdom.**

_**The Underground is waiting for you**_

_**A Fairyland now opens to you**_

_**My Sarah, look around you and see**_

**_Your land awaits your rule -- here with me!_**

**After you entered my kingdom freeborn,**

**Touched your hand and shed blood on a unicorn's horn,**

**Sarah, you can't expect not to leave me forlorn,**

**If you leave me alone in mykingdom.**

**I need you here in my arms, and my kingdom.**

Jareth finished his song and looked down at Sarah.

She was fast asleep, clinging to his shirt-ruffles.

He smiled faintly and leaned back to get comfortable for the night. "Note to self," he murmured. "Don't serenade a tired lady."

_A/N: All right, nobody laugh at the song I wrote for Jareth to sing in this story! I know it's a little silly, but I get so very sick of song-fics that use people's pre-existing songs to get their point across. I mean, come on, people, show some creativity! It's your words I want to read when I read your story, not someone else's. If I want top 40, I'll listen to the radio._

_So there's my songfic rant. I thought I'd come up with one for Jareth to sing (because he was forever singing in the film). I'm no David Bowie when it comes to song-writing, but hey, at least I tried. And it even has a decent melody, too! Too bad I can't include that as well._


	23. Another Kidnapping is Planned

Chapter 24: Another Kidnapping is Planned

The next week passed very slowly for Sarah. She found it difficult to concentrate on her classes, even though she completely blew away her Management professor with her project. He told her that she had a "real talent for leadership," which made her laugh as she remembered leading her ragtag group of friends through the Labyrinth so long ago.

Mostly she was thinking of Jareth, wondering how "serious" his intentions were. True to his word, he had returned her well-rested to her bedroom less than five minutes after they'd left. She'd apologized for falling asleep on him (literally) but he'd only laughed and said he hoped she'd enjoyed his lullaby.

That business with the unicorns puzzled her. Still not knowing what she was a "candidate" for made her uncomfortable. Why had he wanted her to be present when he broke off his arranged engagement? She vividly remembered what he'd said in the park, about a precious treasure, but if Toby was right and Jareth had been talking about her, he had clearly said that he had no business keeping it. She wondered, in an idle moment, whether Jareth wanted to marry her instead of Arien, but then she laughed at herself. What gall, to start thinking of herself as queen material! No amount of _chutzpah_ could make her think he intended matrimony with a mortal human.

On the other hand, that experience with the Goblin King in her car had shocked and exhilarated her. Sarah had never known anyone else like him, or anyone who made her respond like that. She blushed, remembering her body's response to those fiery kisses, and grinned. She never thought, at fifteen, that she'd be exchanging such heated kisses with the man who stole her brother -- or that her brother would get along so well with him twelve years later!

Jareth had shown her nothing but caring and consideration, and the Goblin King had shown her passion. Knowing that they were really the same man electrified her and sped her heartbeat, all at the same time.

Lying on her bed after her last class, Sarah rolled his crystal around in her hands and was forced to admit that she was a fair way along the path to falling in love with him. She was getting the feeling, too, that a lot depended on the Dwarf King's wedding. Why else would he have made such a big deal out of telling the unicorns that he was taking her? Did he intend to make her his mistress? She had fallen asleep during his song, but she distinctly remembered a strong impression that he wanted her to come and live there with him. She frowned. If he asked her, she'd have to tell him she wasn't the right type for that sort of thing.

A banging on her door interrupted her thoughts. "Sarah!" It was Paris, who had been even snottier to Sarah in the aftermath of the party last Saturday. "Telephone!"

It was Toby, bubbling over with news that Jareth had been to visit him that day, and had promised him a visit to the Underground that weekend if Sarah could go along too. "He said he didn't think you'd trust him to return me if I went alone," Toby said, speaking almost too fast for Sarah to catch what he said. "So can we go, Sarah? Please? He said to just call him and he'd make all the arrangements. He wants to show me the big maze this time, 'cause last time I was stuck in his throne room with all the goblins. Well, and plus I was, like, two, and can't remember most of it."

"Fifteen months, actually," Sarah said. "Toby, are you really sure about this?"

"Sarah," he pleaded, "This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me, like, ever! Please!"

Sarah laughed, and then noticed that Paris was giving her an odd look. "All right, Toby. I'll get in touch with Jared and make the arrangements. It'll be fun," she said. I hope, she added to herself. She held the phone away from her ear so Toby's whoop of triumph didn't deafen her. "Uh, Toby? You do know this is between us, right?" Sarah crossed her fingers. All she needed was for her stepmother to find out they were making plans behind her back, and it would be all over.

His reply was scornful. "Well, duh! I _can_ keep a secret, you know. I've known Hoggle for years now, and Mom and Dad don't even know."

"I guess so," Sarah said, surprised that it had been that long.

"Sarah?"

"Yes?"

"Are you gonna marry Jareth?" Toby's telephone voice was loud in the quiet apartment.

Sarah's eyes widened as she took in Paris' expression. The girl had obviously heard the question and was ready to burst into laughter. "Uh, what - what makes you think that?" she stammered, her mind racing.

"Hoggle says you wouldn't go to the king's wedding with Jareth if you weren't gonna marry him. So are you?" Toby asked impatiently.

"Toby, can we talk about this later?" Sarah pleaded, knowing she was going to have to do some fast talking to keep Paris from spreading this all over the campus. "He's never mentioned it, and I was only introduced to him a week ago!"

"Introduced? You mean at that party? But Sarah - "

She cut him off sharply. "Toby. _Later_."

There was a long pause, and Toby asked, "Is your roommate there or something?"

"_Yes._"

"Oh. Sorry. Well, would you marry him if he asked?"

"_I don't know." _Sarah spoke through gritted teeth.

"Cuz Hoggle says he might ask you at the wedding."

"Toby!"

Sarah heard the sound of her brother's laughter and knew he'd been playing with her. "OK, well, I'll see you this weekend, sis."

"Uh, Toby?" Sarah said.

"Yeah?"

"What would you think… if it did work out that way?" Sarah asked before she could stop herself.

Toby giggled. "I'd say he's way too cool for you! But if you let me visit, then -- go for it!"

"Right. Well. Nothing's impossible, I suppose, but I'm not holding my breath. I was just curious. I'll see you soon, Toby." Sarah hung up the phone with a shaking hand and took a moment to gather herself before turning around to face her roommate. She cleared her throat. "Uh, Paris. Hi. Um. Exactly… how much of that did you hear?"

Paris shook her head slowly from side to side, grinning. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. I don't get you. You're like a nun until I get you to one party, then you turn into this dance machine and hook up with the hottest guy there, and now your little brother thinks you're marrying him?" She clucked her tongue in sympathy, still grinning. "There's only one explanation for it."

"This should be good," Sarah said sarcastically.

"You're all crazy. That's the only explanation. You're nuts, your little brother is nuts, and that snooty Jared is definitely nuts. You're like this whole basket of fruit! Just wait till I tell Leo and Raoul!" She laughed and went off into the kitchen, where Sarah heard her start to chant, "Sarah and Jared, up in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

Sarah was angry for a brief moment, but then the ridiculousness of the situation presented itself and she started to laugh. "Oh, shut up!" she yelled out to Paris in the kitchen. "You're just jealous he picked me and not you!"

"Damn straight!" Paris yelled back. "Did you _see_ him? That man is _FINE_!"

Sarah laughed. "Damn good kisser, too!" she yelled back.

"Aw, now you're just teasing me!" Paris accused, _fortissimo_.

"Learned it from the best!"

"How is he in the sack?" Paris wanted to know at the top of her voice.

"Don't know! Never got past the park bench!" Sarah was shocked at herself for a moment, but then giggled.

Paris came back out of the kitchen with a roast beef sandwich at least four inches thick, and sat down to eat it. "So you hooked up with this guy and then spent the whole weekend with him? I thought you went home to see your folks."

"I did. Jared came along."

Paris whistled. "Man, girl, you work fast! Meet a guy Saturday night and by Sunday he's meetin' the fam! Guess you're a slow starter but make up for lost time, huh?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Something like that. Hey I have some work to do - Toby and I are making a little trip this weekend and I have to make arrangements. I'll see you tomorrow."

"This trip that's all hush-hush? Oooh, now I got blackmail material on you! But I'm gonna be at Leo's tomorrow, so you won't see me till next week."

Tomorrow was Friday. Sarah hid her smile. She hadn't seen Jareth all week, but he had promised to spend one more weekend with her -- and the king's wedding was only a few days after that. She'd be getting some answers, finally. "Okay, have fun," she said.

"You too," Paris advised her with a leer. "Tell me all about it!"

"Not a chance!" Sarah called back lightly as she ran up the stairs.

_A/N: One more chapter coming in this batch._


	24. Business and Pleasure

Chapter 25: Business and Pleasure

Sarah locked her door, pushed the bureau in front of it, and called him. She got the usual butterflies-in-her-stomach sensation, and then Jareth was there behind her, sliding his hands over her shoulders to pull her back against him. He bent and kissed her neck, making her gasp. His lips travelled up towards her ear, while his gloved hand caressed the side of her face. Sarah shivered as he breathed her name into her ear. "You called?" he said, his silvery voice a little rougher than usual.

Sarah turned around in his arms. "I did. I did want to talk, but now that you're here--" and she pulled his mouth down to hers.

Several very satisfying minutes later, Sarah pulled away, panting. "How do you do that to me?" she marvelled. "I never used to be like this!" Her body was humming with excitement.

"Neither did I," Jareth admitted with a smile. He cleared his throat. "What did you wish to speak of?" He was wearing jeans and a soft blue knit shirt.

"Are we going out?" she asked, indicating his attire.

She could have sworn that he flushed a little. "Not unless you'd like to. I'm finding the clothing of your world an… interesting change," he said. "So you spoke with Toby, then?"

"Yes, and he had some very impertinent questions," Sarah laughed.

"Are you sure about that? They might turn out to be pertinent after all!" Jareth teased.

"Let's wait and see, shall we? Anyway, he said something about the two of us visiting you this weekend."

"I thought we might make a reversal of your last trip. I'd like to show you some more of my castle, and Toby wanted to see some of the Labyrinth. You needn't worry; he'll be perfectly safe. I thought he could come for a day or two, and well -- you owe me four days, remember." He grinned. "I'd like them now, please. I can return you whenever you wish, so you don't have to concern yourself with classes."

"That… actually… sounds fun," Sarah said.

"So we're agreed, then. Hoggle will bring Toby through the mirror tomorrow, and I'll fetch you at the same time. Now then," he said briskly. "Tell me how your Management project went." He listened to Sarah's description of it, and agreed laughingly when she told him about her professor's compliment, that she was a good leader. He asked about her other studies, probed lightly into her plans for the future (other than business management, she didn't really have any), and quizzed her on politics and government.

They got into a discussion about the ways in which a monarchy differed from a democratic republic, but Sarah wasn't as familiar with monarchies as he was. Jareth stated that one ruler could lead a country either into greatness or ruin, but that if everyone fancied himself a ruler, as in a democracy, the consequences would be much worse.

Sarah neatly countered with the example of the British parliament, which was the governing body, with the monarch as more of a figurehead than anything else. They argued good-naturedly for quite some time before Sarah put her finger in the major flaw of his argument.

"You're assuming that the subjects have the collective I.Q. of a piece of moldy bread. Not every monarch rules over goblins, you know!"

Jareth was surprised into a laugh. "There is that," he admitted. He gave her an admiring look. "Sarah, you should have gone into law, or politics. You seem to have rather a talent for it."

Sarah scoffed. "Right, like I can see me in politics. I wouldn't get elected to anything, Jareth -- I still have ethics!"

"How very old-fashioned of you," he teased. "We'll have to find a place to put your considerable talents to good use, then. Maybe you can give me some good advice while you're visiting my kingdom."

"I'd think twice about taking it, if I were you," Sarah warned. "All that information you dumped into my head seems to have faded away. I can't remember much of it at all!"

"It will come to you as you need it," Jareth told her.

Sarah gave him a rueful grin. "So now even my brain is on a 'need to know' basis?" she asked. "This is getting frustrating! Jareth, when am I going to start finding out some of this stuff?"

"Tomorrow," he promised. "And now I must go and arrange for your visit." He kissed her lightly and was gone.

"My!" Sarah quoted from one of her favourite movies. "People come and go so quickly here!"

_A/N: All right, anyone who recognizes the movie quote AND can tell me the connection between it and Labyrinth will get a special (imaginary) magical crystal ball. If you look into it, you'll see a young girl on a quest. She's wandering around ina strange, magicalcountry filled with fantastical beasts and weird people. And if you turn it this way, you'll see "her little dog, too!"_

_Hope my fluff-seekers found enough of it in this chapter to last them a while. :)_

_That's all for this batch of chapters, and y'all are going to have to be patient because I'm going away for the weekend. It's my anniversary, and much as I love my faithful readers, I like my husband even more. So I'll be uploading another batch on Monday when I get back. Wish me happy anniversary!_


	25. What Goes Around

_Well, we took a little longer to get going than I thought we would, so I had time to upload one more chapter._

_BOOkperson, thanks for your kind words! Just so you know, I love my husband more than anything else – he's the most wonderful man in the world. I only said I "liked" him because I didn't want to go overboard singing his praises. We had a friend tell us once that we were so sweet together that we'd "make the smurfs puke." Heh, heh. But I'm not going to steal "our" fluff and give it to Jareth and Sarah. I'll make up different fluff for them. Ours is private (and better!). ;)_

_So far no one has guessed the exact connection I was going for, though a few people did guess the correct movie. Where and how does this movie show up in "Labyrinth?" Anyone know?_

_Letylyf (and crazy07), I'm so glad you liked the song! I was **really** unsure about including it because it technically counts as poetry… and for some reason my poetry is a LOT harder for me to share with the wide world than my prose. Thanks for the compliment about it; that gives me a bit more confidence._

_Oh, Mirriam Q – I completely agree with what you said about the median age of the usual fanfic writer. I wonder, however, how many **original** Labyrinth fans write here? I'm one, and I know there are a few others. I can usually tell which ones are original fans, because we're mostly in our thirties by now, and the writing shows it. But I have seen some excellent work done by high school students as well. The majority of such "young" writing is a chore to read, because the writers have no idea how adults are supposed to act (they think they're just bigger teenagers) – but I have seen some very good stuff from time to time._

Chapter 26: What Goes Around…

Sarah had a very hard time concentrating on her Friday morning classes, and she decided to blow off her afternoon ones entirely. With the feeling of freedom that comes from being naughty, she even went out shopping when she knew she should have been in class.

She bought herself a new pair of shoes, stylish yet comfortable to walk in, and decided to get a haircut while she was out. The stylist left the length, but cut some layers into it and made some shorter, face-framing wisps loose. Sarah liked it, and left her hair loose after it dried so it swung around her shoulders.

Sarah had had so little money for so long that a new pair of shoes and a haircut were priceless luxuries for her. After graduating from high school, she had worked for several years to save for college, and then during college she had worked in the bookstore to help pay for it. Since her father and step-mother had split up, her father hadn't been able to help her with much money either. Karen begrudged the child support, since she felt she should have been granted custody of Toby. It had been Sarah's testimony in court that had swayed the decision, and Karen couldn't forgive her.

Sarah thought, not for the first time, that Toby might have been better off had she failed the Labyrinth challenge.

When she got back to the apartment Paris was already gone, but she'd left a note on the memo board: "Sarah - Gone to Leo's for the weekend. If you see Jared make sure to invite me to the wedding!" She'd signed it with a happy face that had the tongue sticking out, and Sarah chuckled as she made her dinner.

"Definitely got some questions for that man," she muttered to herself as she went up to her room. There was a letter waiting for her beneath the crystal, which was dark when Sarah peeked into it.

_From His Majesty Jareth, King of the Goblins_

_To Miss Sarah Williams, Student: Greetings_

_His Majesty wishes Ms. Williams to know that he has once again taken her brother. If Ms. Williams expects to see young master Toby Williams again, she shall call His Majesty by name and agree to the following terms:_

_1. Ms. Williams shall accept His Majesty's hospitality for a period of four days_

_2. During this time, Ms. Williams shall accept and wear clothing chosen by His Majesty_

_3. Ms. Williams shall allow young master Toby free run of the entire Labyrinth, being assured of his safety by its king_

Sarah felt one instant of sheer, childish panic before remembering that this visit was all arranged. Then she let out a rueful laugh. Wasn't it just like Jareth to send her a written invitation couched in terms of a ransom note! Sarah re-read the terms carefully, looking for loopholes -- and found one. With a pen, she added the words, "…and approved by Ms. Williams" to the second item on the list. Damned if she'd give up control of her wardrobe to a man who dressed like the cover of a bodice-ripper!

Feeling the now-familiar nervous butterflies, she called for Jareth. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then her desk mirror shimmered a little and changed to show his face.

He smiled. "Sarah! Are you ready, then? Toby's already here."

"Yes, so I read," she said. "Did you mean to give me a heart attack, Jareth, or was that just a happy accident?" she scolded.

He smiled wider. "Thought you might like to reminisce a little," he said. "Do you agree to the terms? If so, we can be on our way."

Sarah wanted to clarify one thing first. "You want me to agree to these terms, _exactly as they're written?_" She filled her voice with outrage, in the hopes that he wouldn't realize what she had done.

"Of course," Jareth said with an impish grin.

He started to get suspicious when Sarah gave him a satisfied smile. "Very well, I agree," she said sweetly. "You might want to see what I added, though."

"Sarah…" his tone held a note of warning.

Grinning, she held up the letter in front of the mirror and pointed to her brief addition. "This is what we're agreed upon, Jareth."

"But that was not what -"

And Sarah folded her arms and cut him off with a line she'd wanted to use on him for years. "Uh-uh-uh. '_What's said is said!'"_

And when he realized that he'd been played, he had no choice but to give in and laugh. "That's not fair!" he mocked her, reaching through the mirror to take Sarah's hand.

_A/N: Okay, okay, now I'm really gone until Monday or Tuesday! Feel free to fill my mailbox with glowing reviews (or honest ones, even if they don't glow--I like that kind even better sometimes, 'cause they help make me a better writer) so they'll all be sitting there when I get back. Cheers!_


	26. Mi Casa es Su Casa

Chapter 26: Mi Casa es Tu Casa

When Sarah arrived with Jareth in the throne room of his castle, she looked around in surprise. His throne and the room itself were roughly the same shape as the ones she'd seen before, but nothing else was. Pristine marble floors showed their reflections back to them, and Sarah had the sudden thought that she was glad she was wearing trousers. If she'd been in a skirt, people would've been able to see right up it, in the reflection on the floor! With a snort, she wondered if that might have been Jareth's plan with the wardrobe terms. "Wow, this is… beautiful," she said. "It's nothing like I remember it." The throne was draped in velvet and there was a stunning Oriental rug on the floor.

"Yes, well, I decided to stop decorating in Early Goblin Demolition," he said. "Come, let me show you around."

Jareth's castle was a maze in itself, with lots of large, empty, echoing spaces connected by twisted interminable corridors. The room he assigned to Sarah was larger than her whole apartment back at the college. Instead of marble, this had wood floors--"They're so much warmer," Jareth explained--a huge bed, and large windows that were exactly the right height and width to sit on and look out over the Labyrinth.

Toby's room was right next to hers, slightly smaller and with a more juvenile décor. Jareth's room was at the end of the hall. "And I hope you appreciate the distinction of sleeping in the same wing as the king," he teasingly boasted. "It's also a security risk, so mind you don't try to assassinate me in the night."

He brought her down a long set of stairs to his office, an enormous room containing two couches, one very large desk and a very tiny one, and a scale model of the entire labyrinth and surrounding lands. As Sarah watched, some of the walls moved around to block off the passageways.

"That explains a lot," she said. A tiny movement caught her eye and she blinked and looked closer. "Oh, my God," she exclaimed. There was a tiny scale model of Toby, wandering down one of the passageways! She pointed to him. "Is that really him? This is where he is right now?" she asked Jareth.

He nodded. "After you were able to sneak up on me when I was distracted with the baby, I decided I needed a better system than just glancing into a crystal occasionally."

"Who's with him?" Sarah asked, squinting down at the ¼ inch high figures.

"Oh, I sent Hoggle to help him through the maze. Thought it might be amusing for him."

Sarah noticed that Jareth used Hoggle's name correctly, and smiled. She should have guessed that he only mis-used it because it irritated Hoggle so! She looked around the room curiously, noting the disparity in desk sizes. "Whose is the tiny desk? I'm assuming the big one is yours," she teased. "Your ego would hardly allow anything else."

Jareth chuckled. "And quite right, too. You'll meet my secretary in a few minutes. He had a little errand to do in the gardens for me. Shall we wait here?"

Sarah nodded eagerly. She wanted to get a look at the surrounding lands, since all she'd seen was the Labyrinth before, and not all of that. "Where is the Dwarf kingdom?" she asked.

Jareth waved a hand over the map and it changed to show the entire Underground, with the Labyrinth taking up one small corner. "Up here, in the mountains," he said, pointing. "The dwarves live under the mountains and the trolls live on top of them. Over here," he indicated a large forest that went down to the sea, "is the kingdom of the elves. Their land borders mine here," he pointed to a hilly spot, "but it's not a clear border. You've seen it; there are elements of my kingdom overlapping elements of the elvish one. That's where the Unicorns live."

Something tickled at the back of Sarah's mind. "_'Between the two kingdoms of darkness and light, an island of purity aids in the fight,'_" she quoted, not knowing where she'd gotten it.

Jareth looked surprised. "Yes, exactly. How did you know--oh, I must have put that into your lesson book," he remembered. Then he explained, "The elves are the light, and millennia ago, my goblins began as fallen elves. The unicorns, as a symbol of purity, hold power over the rest of the Underground. That's why their land is in the exact centre."

"That must be why your goblins aren't actually malevolent, just mischievous," Sarah realized. "Because the unicorns are there to keep your kingdom from falling totally into darkness."

"Not just the goblins," Jareth said quietly. "Their king has his fair share of darkness in his soul as well."

Sarah smiled. "I already knew about their king," she said. "There's not much about you I do know, but I've figured out by now that you're not malevolent. I just wish I'd known that last time."

There was a comfortable silence and Sarah decided there would be no better time to ask Jareth about a few things. "So when do I start getting all those answers you promised me?" she asked.

"Getting impatient, are we?" he teased with a grin.

"Impatient isn't quite the word I'd use. Curious bordering on homicidal, maybe," she laughed back.

"Ah, but I'm not a _homo sapiens,_ so the word 'homicide' wouldn't apply to me."

"_Faericidal,_ then. That suit you better? And I'm not letting you change the subject. I want some answers, Jareth. If I'm on a 'need to know' basis, I've just decided I need to know some things. When do I get my questions answered?"

"How many do you have?" he grinned.

"How much time you got?"

"More than you. I'm from a long-lived race."

"Let's start with one and work our way up, then."

"One right now," Jareth decided. "Five more over dinner. Two more before bed. That suit you?" he asked, mocking her own inflection.

"Fine." Sarah drew breath to ask her question, but he interrupted her.

"And I get to ask you just as many. And you have to answer them honestly and completely, just as I will do yours, or pay a forfeit."

Sarah gritted her teeth. Why did he have to make a game out of absolutely everything? "All right, then," she said sweetly. "Same for you. Why don't you go first?"

"Very well." Jareth said.

_A/N: Back from my little holiday and had a wonderful time, thank you very much! My mailbox was full of so many wonderful reviews that it did my heartgood to read them all. Thank you, everyone who reviewed. Oh, and the good news is that I've almost finished this story (wrote about 30 more pages of it while I was gone) and will be uploading chapters every day until it's complete. So R&R, my friends, and I'll keep writing_.


	27. A Little Q&A Session at Last!

Chapter 27: A Little Q&A Session

"Very well," Jareth said. He cocked his head. "I know about your Aboveground customs--and if I didn't before, then meeting your roommate certainly acquainted me with them!--but I am curious why you have never been intimate with a man. It is unusual, is it not, for a beautiful human woman to reach adulthood and not have had that experience?"

Sarah flushed horribly. Was she a bad kisser? Could he tell how inexperienced she was? She gave a self-conscious shrug and said, "I've never fallen in love, and I've never been a fan of casual sex. I think there needs to be some serious emotional commitment there, if not actual marriage, before I'll be willing to give someone that part of myself. They go together, in my mind." He nodded, and there was a long pause. Then she had to ask, "How--how did you know? Have you watched me that much?" Turning away until her blushes subsided seemed to be the best course of action.

Jareth shook his head. "No, indeed. Entrancing as you are, I do have a kingdom to run. No, no: I knew because of the unicorns."

Like a flash Sarah remembered the unicorn legend, that a unicorn would not approach anyone who wasn't a virgin. But if that were the case… she drew her brows together, keeping her back to him. "But Jareth, they approached you! Is that because you're a king?"

Jareth chuckled and put his arms around Sarah from behind. "No, darling heart, it's not because I'm a king. It's because I've not been in love either."

Sarah turned around in shock. "You mean..? _You?"_

He nodded.

"But how is that possible? I mean, for one thing you're like, a million years old, and for another, you're gorgeous!" Too late, she clapped a hand to her mouth before she gave his ego too much of a boost.

He laughed. "I'm not that old, I assure you, but I thank you for the compliment!" He drew her over to one of the couches and sat down. "My kind do not lust," he said. "At least, not as humans do. In order for us to feel physical desire, there must be significant emotional involvement as well. It is part of our racial makeup. We are not like humans, who view love and lust as separate things."

"Not all humans," Sarah reminded him.

"True, but it is physically possible for humans to become aroused even when there is no emotional commitment. For us, it is not physically possible."

Sarah took a moment to mull over the implications of such a system. It would certainly cut down on the sorts of infidelities that had broken up both of her father's marriages! Not to mention there wouldn't be any unwanted pregnancies or venereal diseases, or any other aspects of casual sex that her roommate had introduced her to. Overhearing Paris having noisy sex was bad enough, but hearing the guy ask "What was your name again?" immediately afterwards was an experience Sarah would gladly have foregone!

"You've just asked me three extra questions, Sarah. Now you owe me." Jareth grinned. "I'll collect over dinner."

"My lady!" came a high-pitched voice from the doorway. "My lady!" A smallish foxlike creature came trotting into the room and bowed low before the couch where Sarah and Jareth sat. He had an armful of flowers which he presented to Sarah with a flourish.

Sarah brightened and slid off the couch to throw her arms around her friend. "Sir Didymus! I'm so glad to see you! It's been so long!"

"Aye, my lady, it has been aeons, seemingly, since you last called me to your side," he answered, apparently holding no grudges.

"Sarah," Jareth said, "Meet my secretary."

Sarah laughed aloud. "Well, that certainly explains the wording of those letters!"

Didymus drew his miniscule frame up proudly. "As a reward for my valour as your champion, my lady, His Majesty King Jareth hath promoted me to be his Personal Secretary!"

"That was good of him," Sarah said absently. "I'll bet he's a beast to work for, though," she said in a stage whisper that Jareth pretended he hadn't heard.

Didymus acted insulted. "Certainly not, my lady! It has been my very great pleasure to serve His Majesty in that capacity! And as his champion, I cannot allow anyone--not even you, milady--to disparage his name!" He stuck his long nose pompously into the air.

"Thank you, Didymus; that will be all for now," Jareth said mildly. "Perhaps you'd be so good as to see if dinner is served? I'm sure Sarah is hungry."

"It would be my honour to ascertain the status of your victuals, Your Majesty. Until we meet again, my lady," Didymus made them a sweeping bow and scampered off, full to the brim of self-importance.

Sarah turned amused eyes on Jareth, who shrugged. "He's actually a very good secretary."

Sarah had a thought. "What about Toby? Won't he be eating with us?"

"I ordered a private dinner for him and Hoggle - Toby said he wanted to stay in the Labyrinth until it got dark. He'll be returning after dinner; you'll see him then. I thought you might want some privacy for our question and answer session." He winked.

Sarah blinked innocently. "Why, Your Majesty! What could you possibly mean?"

"Oh, you object?" Jareth conjured a crystal and raised his arm to throw it out the window. "Shall I fetch Toby now, so he can listen to your answers about who can approach unicorns and why?"

Sarah grabbed his arm and lowered it. Blushing, she said, "Now that I think of it, I'm sure Toby would prefer to have dinner with Hoggle."

Jareth vanished the crystal and smirked.

_A/N: More talking in the next chapter; hope no one minds.Sarah finally gets some answers. And just in case the conversation waxes a little old, there's little bit of fluff there as well. Stay tuned!_


	28. A Revelation and a Conflagration

Chapter 28: A Revelation and a Conflagration

Dinner was fantastic. Thick, juicy cuts of filet mignon that melted in the mouth, a clear seafood soup with tiny shrimps in it, a crisp, fresh salad made with vegetables Sarah couldn't even identify--she shook her head in wonder. "First time I've ever had a meal that was literally fit for a king," she said.

"I'm glad you approve," Jareth said. "Now, for those three questions you owe me..." Sarah grimaced and he grinned and continued, "First, why haven't you ever been in love? Just couldn't find the right fellow? No one interested in you? What was it that made you stay single?"

Sarah took a long moment to answer. "There have been people interested in me," she said slowly. "I used to go on dates sometimes. But I never went out with the same guy more than a couple of times because--well, we just couldn't find anything in common." She smiled wistfully, remembering. "I always felt as if I had to guard myself from them--I couldn't let them know the real Sarah, because they'd think I was either boring or crazy."

"Why?"

"Well, the Labyrinth was such a large part of my life, and I couldn't talk about it to anyone. I couldn't tell anyone about it, or you, or my friends here, and it really cut down on the number of things I could say when a guy asked, 'So, Sarah, tell me about yourself.' I used to think that if there were a guy somewhere who would believe me and not think I was nuts, that's the one I could fall in love with. So far, he hasn't shown up." Sarah gave him a self-deprecating smile.

Jareth grinned. "Sarah, I assure you that I believe you totally, and I know for a fact that you're quite sane!"

Sarah laughed. "If _you_ of all people didn't believe me, I'd think you were the crazy one!"

"True. Now, about my other questions --"

Sarah cut him off. "Uh-uh. You just asked me five. That means you only get one more over dinner, while I still get to ask you two."

Jareth reviewed the conversation mentally, stifling a groan when he realized that his careless way of wording had cost him several questions. He sighed. "Very well. I'll keep it until after yours, then. What more would you like to know?"

"I want to know why you had to say goodbye to the unicorns."

"I've fallen in love," he said simply. "If things go well, then I shall marry and--" he gave a quick grin, " --with any luck, shall consummate the marriage. Thus, I won't be able to see the unicorns again."

Sarah swallowed, a little unsure now. She knew what her last question had to be. It was just a question of phrasing it properly so she didn't sound like a stuttering teenager. "Who have you fallen in love with?" she asked, hating herself for how breathless she sounded.

Jareth was out of his chair and kneeling by her feet in a heartbeat. "It's you, Sarah. Did you doubt it?" He took her hands and held them loosely in his gloved ones. He bent his head and kissed them both, and then looked up with a tender smile. "I don't expect you to echo the sentiments; don't worry. This is fairly sudden for a human, I know. I just wanted you to know that my heart is yours."

Sarah suddenly felt it was horribly wrong for the Goblin King to be on his knees before her, and she stood up and pulled him up to stand next to her. "Jareth, I--I don't know what to say!" she stammered, hiding her face in his neck.

He kissed her hair and just held her for a moment before tilting her face up to see the mischievous smile on his own. "I believe that was your final dinner question," he murmured. "I shall ask mine now."

Sarah nodded, dropping her eyes.

"Do you think you could ever learn to love me?" He held his breath, awaiting her answer.

Already fairly smitten, Sarah blushed. "I think I could," she said softly. "I definitely think I could."

Jareth let out a sigh of relief and sought her lips with his. They both lost track of time as the kiss deepened and the embrace tightened.

They were finally interrupted by a youthful voice. "There, see? I knew you guys just wanted to suck face a bit!"

Sarah broke the kiss and stepped back, face flaming. "Toby! What are you doing here?"

"Jareth sent me a crystal to take me back here after dinner. I thought you two would be done with all this stuff before I got here!"

"Ah, yes," Jareth murmured. "I thought it would take him longer to have dinner."

Sarah laughed in spite of her embarrassment. "Sorry to disappoint you! Come and tell me about your day." They sat back down at the table while a dessert of fruit confections was served.

"Well, we started out by the gates just like you did. But Hoggle said you'd gone right, and that we'd see more if we went left. So we did." Toby chattered on about all the things he had seen that day, some of which Sarah had seen herself, and many of which she had missed. "...And then we went into the forest and hung out with Fizzle and the gang..."

"Who's Fizzle?" Sarah wanted to know, enjoying Toby's story immensely.

"Oh, you know--the Fieries. Hoggle said you'd met them."

"What!" Sarah cried, frightened. "You met the Fieries?"

"Yeah! They're great! You always told me they were dangerous, but they're really fun!"

"Fizzle," Jareth interjected mildly, "And Sizzle, Scorch and Sparks and Burnie are all relatively harmless, Sarah. They simply hadn't met anyone before you who didn't have detachable body parts."

The lyrics of an old King Missile comedy song flashed into Sarah's mind and she was forced to stifle a chuckle at the image. Flashing a quick glance at Toby, she could tell he was thinking the same thing, and for the first time she regretted all those Sunday nights staying up late with him and listening to Dr. Demento. They both burst out laughing.

"I must be missing a joke," Jareth asked suspiciously.

At this, they both laughed harder at the thought of his reaction if they told him about the song. "I'm not singing it!" Sarah declared positively. "If you want to sing it for him," she told Toby, "_AFTER_ I leave the room, that's up to you!" Toby agreed, grinning.

Jareth, exceedingly puzzled, glanced from one sibling to the other, and then shrugged and let it go. "It must be a Williams thing. Though I am a bit curious, seeing as it puts such a lovely flush on your cheeks," he winked at Sarah.

"All right, no flirting in front of the impressionable teenager," Toby protested amiably. "Bad enough I had to come in while you two were mackin' on each other."

"'Macking'?" Jareth asked, not understanding.

"Yeah, you know--sucking face. Mashing lips. Playin' tonsil hockey. Smooching. Swapping spit. Making mouth music. Osculating. Reaching first base --"

"That will be quite enough," Jareth said irritably. Sarah shot him a grateful glance. He met her eyes and shook his head. "Sarah, I'm sorry. I know you love your brother and all, but this is more than I can take. Please, may I wish him away?" His expression was serious, but his eyes twinkled.

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "To whom, Jareth? You are the Goblin King. You're the one who would have to answer!"

The Goblin King smirked as he took control of the situation. "Then I think I know exactly what to do with him." He rolled a crystal into his gloved palm, sent Toby a wicked grin, and said, "Off to the Bog with you!" Toby's eyes widened as Jareth tossed it directly at him. Toby disappeared.

"Jareth!" Sarah gasped.

_A/N: The King Missile song is called "Detachable Penis." I just have to know: who else is a Dementohead? _

_And didn't I have fun trying to think of names for all five of the fieries! But when you think about it, what else could they possibly be called?_

_All right, no more tonight. More tomorrow (which technically means later on today, since it's after 2am in my time zone). R&R, please._


	29. Backstory and Explanations

_A/N: Bonnie, my new pal, chill out -- here are some more chapters for you, specially for your birthday. Hope you had a good one. Afrieal, please do me a favor and don't fall off the futon again! I can't afford to get sued. DearLady, I didn't steal the line about "between the two kingdoms of darkness and light..." from anywhere, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize it -- it'sa product of my deranged imagination. For everyone else: here, finally, is the long-awaited backstory, or "what Sarah did for the last twelve years." Enjoy._

_When we last saw them, Our Hero had just sent Toby off to the Bog for being annoying, and Sarah was in the middle of her appalled protest._

Chapter 29: Backstory and Explanations

Jareth laughed. "Relax, Sarah. I sent him to bed. But you can't deny that he deserved a bit of a scare!"

Sarah laughed in relief. "No, I can't deny that!" She tossed her napkin down onto the table and said, "Well, shall we get those last two questions out of the way?"

Jareth's face lit. "Absolutely! We might be more comfortable in my study, though," and he took her hand and led the way. When they arrived, Sarah noticed a couch had been pulled up in front of one of the tall windows, so they could sit and look out over the labyrinth. Jareth sprawled out on it with one leg up, and pulled Sarah down to lean against his chest. His arms went around her from behind and she sighed with pleasure.

It was a beautiful night, with the large yellow moon shining down and illuminating the Labyrinth almost as if it were day. Parts of the Labyrinth cast their own light as well, and out of the corners of her eyes Sarah could see some movement. The walls that she looked at stayed still, but her peripheral vision kept catching them moving around just out of her line of sight. "It's so beautiful," she murmured.

"Glad your opinion of it has improved," Jareth said comfortably. "Now, then, you first."

Sarah had her question ready. "What is involved with the royal wedding that you aren't telling me? Specifically as regards the two of us, I mean."

Jareth chuckled, running gloved fingers through her glossy hair. "You already know the format for a royal wedding in the Underground -- I know, because I put it into your lesson book." Sarah turned her head to give him a blank stare. "Thirteen days of celebration," he reminded her. "Followed by the wedding itself."

"And during the thirteen days," Sarah said slowly, starting to remember, "The other unmarried monarchs are encouraged to find and court their own mates."

"Exactly," Jareth said. He pressed his lips to her hair and said matter-of-factly, "On the twelfth day of celebrations, Sarah, I plan to ask you to marry me. If you refuse, then I shall have to declare a formal betrothal to Arien. If you accept, then we shall declare formal betrothal vows on the thirteenth day, and you'll make me the happiest man in two worlds."

Sarah's jaw dropped. "I--I--you--I mean..." she chuckled softly. "You seem to keep leaving me at a loss for words!"

Jareth grinned. "I do so dislike predictable people, don't you? I believe it is my turn now. I could ask at this point whether you think you might tell me yes or no, but I prefer to give you time to think it over. I shan't just be sitting around waiting for you to make up your mind, though--oh, no! I shall be actively trying to convince you of what a good idea it would be to accept!"

"Oh, good," Sarah said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No pressure, though, right?"

He grinned. "No pressure? What part of 'actively trying to convince you' didn't you understand?"

"I'd expect nothing less from you," Sarah assured him, laughing.

"And a good thing, too," he laughed. Then he turned serious. "Now, as for my question -- tell me, how have you occupied yourself since you ran my Labyrinth? Tell me of your family, your friends. How would you describe your life?"

"Lonely," Sarah blurted. At his raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "When Dad found out Karen was having an affair, he kicked her out. She and I had never been close, but when I spoke at the trial on behalf of my father, she couldn't forgive me. Then, when Dad got custody of Toby, she couldn't forgive _him_ either. Toby was only four, and his mother disappeared. That was something I could certainly understand, since the same thing happened to me when I was ten.

"I've never been very outgoing, and after the Labyrinth, it was even harder for me to make friends. When I did, they never lasted long because they always said I was 'too secretive,' and 'too much of a dreamer.'" Sarah gave a cynical laugh. "They should have seen me _before_ the Labyrinth! At least here, I learned that dreaming isn't always a good thing, and I learned how to compartmentalize it better."

"How so?" Jareth wanted to know.

"Well, when you're working full time to save for college and support your little brother, it leads to twelve-hour days and very little time to mope about the park in a white dress," Sarah said with a rueful smile. "And then when I finally did start college, I was too busy studying and working part time to have much time for anything else."

"What of your old dream, to be an actress?"

Sarah snorted. "The only reason I had wanted to do that was because of my mother. When I finally grew up and understood she was never going to come back for me--not to mention that I was very bad at it!--I realized that my skills lie in very different areas. That's why I went into business management: I found out I was good at it. I'm very organized and usually pretty good with people-- and all my imagination became more of an asset than a liability, because I can use it to understand people, to envision the completed job, that sort of thing."

"You certainly are good at commanding people's loyalty," Jareth told her. He had to hide his pleasure as Sarah listed all of her personal qualifications that would make her a good queen!

"Thank you. Now, my turn. And, um, it's kind of personal..." Sarah trailed off uncomfortably.

"I wish no more secrets from you," Jareth encouraged. "Ask."

"Um, if you do end up marrying Arien, how... that is to say, what about an heir? Would you actually…uh…consummate it? And if you did, wouldn't she have to stay away from you afterwards? And are your species even genetically compatible?" Sarah blushed furiously.

_A/N: Don't tell me no one else was wondering about this! Figured I'd toss in an explanation for those puerile and curious minds out there who wanted to know. --grin--_


	30. The Mating Habits of Bipeds

_A/N: Okay, a bunch of people guessed the movie correctly, from several chapters ago. Several of you even drew some clever parallels between "The Wizard of Oz" and the "Labyrinth" that I hadn't even thought of! But no one guessed the exact connection I was looking for (where does this movie show up in "Labyrinth"), which was that Sarah had a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" in her room at the beginning of the movie._

Chapter 30: The Mating Habits of Bipeds

Jareth burst into uncontrollable laughter. When he could speak again, he said, "No, no, my love -- it would be magical, not physical. Unicorns do not reproduce except by magic. And as for compatible, all the Underground species are compatible with one another, but the offspring takes after only one parent or the other. We have no half-breeds. Were I to take Arien to wife, our child would either be fully fae or fully unicorn." He chuckled again, imagining Arien's response to the question.

"Well, I didn't know!" Sarah was defensive, but starting to giggle.

"Quite so; you didn't," Jareth soothed. "I would, of course, vastly prefer a wife with whom I had more things in common, such as love, passion," and here Jareth's eyes took on a mischievous gleam as he continued deadpan, "being bipedal, housetrained..."

Sarah laughed guiltily. "Oh, stop it! If she could only hear you now!"

"Not to mention the fact that it would be difficult to share a meal with her as I have with you. I've never had much fondness for hay..."

Sarah put an end to his talking by the simple expedient of stopping his mouth with her own. "There now," she said when the kiss ended. "Don't be naughty!"

His eyes were very bright. "How can I help it, with such a reward?" he murmured, kissing her again. And again. And several minutes later he pulled himself away from Sarah with a groan. "I must go," he panted. Sarah, body aflame, tried to hold him closer, but he shook his head. "If I stay with you any longer I can't promise to remain a gentleman," he warned.

"What if I told you I don't mind?" Sarah said softly.

He sat up, moving to the other end of the couch. "Then, as you've not yet said you love me, I would be forced to assume that, like most humans, your body is ruling your heart at the moment." He shook his head decisively. "No, Sarah--unless or until you accept my proposal, there shall be no more than this between us physically."

Sarah looked downcast. She _had_ gotten a bit carried away with the sensations his kisses evoked--and now he probably thought she was no better than Paris. "You're right. I'm sorry," she said in a small voice.

Jareth put one finger on her chin, tilting her face up to look into her eyes. "You must understand," he said gently, "This is the first time I've fallen in love in three thousand years. I just want to make sure I do it right!"

Sarah smiled ruefully. "I guess I don't blame you," she said. "For me it's only been twenty-seven years, but I don't want to screw it up either."

Jareth nodded and rose, pulling her to her feet. He kissed each of her hands and suggested, "Then let's each go find our respective beds and start fresh in the morning." Sarah nodded, and he produced a crystal and presented it to her with a flourish. As soon as she touched it, her surroundings changed and she found herself in her room. In a nightgown. Lying on her bed. Looking around at the rich furnishings and tapestries, she yawned. "I could get used to this," she muttered as her eyes fluttered closed.

_A/N: I know a couple of these chapters are super-short, and I apologize--but look on the bright side: there are four chapters in this batch instead of the usual three, and possibly more to come if I get bored later on this evening!_


	31. A New Adventure

Chapter 31: A New Adventure

Next morning, Sarah awoke with the oddest feeling of being watched. Sheblinked her eyes open and shrieked. A pair ofgrey eyes were watching her from a distance of about eight inches. "Hey, Sarah!" Toby greeted.

"Toby, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

He grinned. "Hey, Jareth didn't sent me to the Bog of Stench after all, last night."

Sarah yawned, still sleepy. "I know."

"But he says I can still see it today if I want to. He's going to send his secretary along to show me the way. Want to come?" Toby's face was alight with excitement.

Sarah laughed in spite of her fatigue. "Wild horses," she informed him, "couldn't drag me back to the Bog, even if they wanted to, which they wouldn't, because even wild horses have enough sense not to want to ever smell that stench again!"

Toby pouted. "But the king's secretary said it's not so bad! And he used to guard the bridge there, so he ought to know!"

Sarah sat up and laughingly pushed Toby off the bed onto the floor. "Toby, Sir Didymus had no sense of smell! I don't know why you'd even want to see such a disgusting place, anyway. Why not tour the Goblin City, or check out the underground tunnels or something instead?"

Toby giggled as he got back up. "Underground tunnels? You mean the Underground has an underground?"

Sarah chuckled. "This part of it does, anyway, but you'd have to stay away from the Cleaners. Ask Hoggle about them. I think even facing the Cleaners again would be better than the Bog, though."

He gave her a longsuffering look. "Sarah, I'm a boy. More than that, I'm thirteen years old. Disgusting things are what we like best!"

Sarah laughed aloud. "I guess you're right, but don't say I didn't warn you! Now scoot out of here so I can get dressed, will ya?"

"Sure thing. Oh--Jareth said if you didn't want to come exploring with me, he was gonna take you around and show you the outskirts. So hurry up!"

"The outskirts of what?" Sarah groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"The outskirts of the labyrinth, duh! He says his kingdom extends a lot further than the actual maze--and he says we're gonna ride _horses_!"

Sarah blinked her eyes wide open. "You guys go on ahead. I think I'd rather stay and hang out here with the goblins than let Jareth see me on a horse!"

Toby laughed. "What's the matter? You afraid he's gonna laugh when he sees you on a horse?"

"No!" Sarah snapped.

Sheepishly she added, "I'm more afraid he's going to laugh when he sees me falling _off_ the horse!"

Jareth's ringing laugh filled the room and Sarah glanced up, scarlet-faced, to see him leaning against the doorway. He was wearing his usual high boots and loose white shirt, but with blue jeans neatly tucked into the boots. "I might have known," he said, grinning.

"Known what?" Sarah snapped. "And didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to barge into a lady's bedroom?"

Jareth nodded. "Which is why I'm loitering in the doorway instead of coming in," he explained with mock-propriety. He winked at her, and then addressed Toby. "My secretary is waiting for you, Toby. Your horse has been saddled. Go on, now; have fun!"

"OK, thanks!" Toby said eagerly as he dashed from the room. From way down the hall, they heard him shout back, "Bye, Sarah!"

She sighed.

Jareth grinned.

There was an awkward silence, made more so by Sarah's uneasiness with the fact that she was still in her nightgown, still in bed, while Jareth was fully dressed and showed no signs of leaving.

Finally she spoke. "Uh… would you mind stepping out for a few minutes so I can get dressed?"

"Certainly," Jareth replied. "What were you planning to wear?"

Uncomfortably Sarah cast her eyes about for the clothes she had arrived in. They were gone. Her new shoes poked out from under the bed, but everything else was gone. She glared at Jareth, who merely chuckled.

"If you'll forgive the impropriety of my coming into your bedroom for a moment, I can help you with that clothing dilemma." Sarah's jaw dropped and she blushed, and Jareth realized what he'd said… or more to the point, what it had _sounded _like. His own cheeks flushed a little as he crossed in front of her to open the doors of the wardrobe. He pulled out a few things and tossed them carelessly across Sarah's bed… and Sarah. "Try those first. If they meet with your stringent standards, then meet me downstairs in the throne room as soon as you can."

Sarah rubbed the blue denim between her fingers and arched an eyebrow. "I hesitate to think about what we'll be doing that requires me to wear such durable fabric," she murmured. Jareth just grinned, bowed, and left.

_R&R, if you please. I like the encouragement._


	32. You Can't Take Anything for Granted

_A/N: I know it's a bit short, but this chapter was mainly for me. They don't all have to be deep, heavy, plot-advancing chapters, do they? This one is just me having fun._

Chapter 32: You Can't Take Anything for Granted

As the door clicked shut behind him, Sarah leaped from the bed. Seeing a door opposite her bed, she went in and was pleased to discover a pseudo-modern bathroom. Each appliance was in its separate compartment. The bathtub, she was pleased to note, was huge and claw-footed. There was a face painted on it, and it seemed to lurk in the corner of the bathroom. "Oh, goody," Sarah said sarcastically. "No faucets."

The tub growled at her.

"I beg your pardon," she said politely. "I just don't know how to fill you up with water."

"Try asking," replied the tub in a snarky tone of voice.

"Uh… would you please fill with water so that I can bathe?" Sarah asked.

The tub considered her request for a scant second before replying, "Nope. The king's waiting for you. Bad form, to keep the king waiting. Better you just ask to be clean, and save the bath for later. You'll need it."

Sarah frowned. "Uh… may I please… be clean?" she ventured.

The tub rolled its eyes at her and blinked once. Suddenly, Sarah felt clean and refreshed. She was wearing clean underclothes and her hair was even styled properly! "Thank you!" she told the tub. "That was incredibly helpful!"

"Right, now hurry and dress!" the tub scolded her.

Sarah ran out and pulled on the jeans, snapped them up and reached for the shirt. It was a familiar style: white, loose, and billowy. Suddenly suspicious, she peeked at her shoes under the bed. She pulled them out.

Sure enough, they had transformed into a pair of high leather boots overnight, a close match to the ones the Goblin King stalked around in. With a sigh of mock-exasperation, she pulled on the shirt and tucked it in, then pulled on the boots. In the mirror beside the wardrobe, she looked like an exact match for Jareth himself. "Guess I should be glad he didn't make me wear a copy of his pendant as well," she said to herself as she patted her hair into place and strode toward the door.

"That'll come later," the tub remarked to itself with a smirk after Sarah left the room.


	33. A Pleasant Day for a Ride

Chapter 33: A Pleasant Day for a Ride

"Sarah, you look smashing," Jareth told her when she entered.

"Thank you for the clothes. Any particular reason you wanted us to dress as twins today?" Sarah was discovering the straightforward approach was best with him, no matter now trivial the subject.

He grinned. "Well, it's my favourite outfit, and my favourite person. Why not put the two together?"

"Very nice. Anything else?" Sarah raised her eyebrows and waited.

"Of course," he said. "There's always something else. I rarely do anything without a reason, Sarah."

"That much about you I know already! Do I get to hear the real reason, or is that on a 'need to know' basis too?" she teased.

He said nothing, but merely offered her his arm and led her away down to the stables. The groom had two horses saddled and waiting for them, and he bowed as they approached.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. Good morning, Your Highness," he greeted them both.

Sarah stopped dead. "Your _Highness_?" she whispered to Jareth.

"Later," was all he said.

Sarah found to her delight that horse riding wasn't that hard. Jareth had given her a very gentle grey gelding named Dover, who walked along quite nicely beside is own chestnut mare, Janna (which he pronounced _Yanna_). Jareth showed her acres and acres of the maze that she'd never seen on her first trip, and then headed out to the lands beyond the Labyrinth. They stopped to picnic on a large flat rock overlooking a luscious valley, while the two horses grazed quietly behind them.

Sarah only invoked the Goblin King once, by accident, when she asked him how he came to be King of the Goblins. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her amiable companion was gone. The Goblin King, in his open shirt, tight vest, and wild hair was sitting there smirking at her.

"The question, lovely Sarah, is not so much how I came to be king, but how I shall convince you to become queen." He stood up and strode over to her.

How could any two-legged being move so much like a cat, Sarah wondered? Not wanting a repeat of his performance in her car—

_Not wanting? Are you sure?_ Her body asked with a tingle.

_Not wanting. Very sure,_ her mind answered firmly…but added a very quiet little _…yet._

Sarah, wanting to ask him a couple of questions in his formal capacity, ignored the strong attraction that flared up when she saw him, and decided to go with the direct approach.

"Won't you sit down, Your Majesty?" she asked, scooting over to make more room on the rock next to her.

"Are you afraid of me, Sarah?" he asked with a mocking smile.

She shook her head after just a second's hesitation. "No, Your Majesty, but I do find you a little intimidating when you're acting amorous. It makes me feel pressured, and if I'm pressured I'm likely to get stubborn and end up refusing your proposal. Since you claim to not want that, would you mind terribly if we just sat together and talked?"

With a knowing smirk he gave her a royal nod and lowered himself to sit next to her. Much too close, of course.

Sarah ignored his proximity as best she could and asked him, "Your Majesty, do you have a choice about how to show up when someone speaks your title as opposed to your name?"

"There are always choices," he replied.

"What I mean is… well, what I'm wondering is whether…" Sarah heard herself babbling and forced herself to continue. "How do the two parts of you fit together? Are you both required to show up when someone calls your title or your name?"

The king laughed darkly. "Is that what Jareth told you?"

"S-sort of."

He shook his leonine head. "We are two parts of the same person, my dear. It is a matter of which aspect is required at any given moment that dictates which of us shows up. It is a measure of how much I trust you, darling Sarah, that I allow myself to be Jareth around you so much."

"I appreciate the compliment," said Sarah, for she really did. "But which one were you twelve years ago when you came to get Toby?"

"Ah, you had called on me formally. I appeared to you in this incarnation." The king was quiet for a moment, remembering, and then spoke again. "As soon as I was out of your presence, though, young Toby appealed to my softer side. It was Jareth who sang to him and fed him and kept him entertained." He pulled her closer. "You would have a royal persona as well," he murmured as he began to gather her into his arms. "Once we're married, we'll be able to interact on a number of different levels… like this one." He kissed her: hard, hungry kisses that left her body humming. He pulled away to say something, but—caught up in the moment—Sarah grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer to kiss again. He lifted her up onto his lap and pressed his lips to her neck.

_A/N: All right, y'all can stop the picketing for "more fluff" now. I hear ya, I hear ya! --wink--_


	34. Equine Jealousy

Chapter 34: Equine Jealousy

Sarah sighed his name, and his arms tightened around her. "Oh, Sarah," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

She opened her eyes. Jareth was back, in his white ruffled shirt and neatly-tied hair. His eyes twinkled as he asked her, "Did you enjoy yourself with my alter-ego?"

Sarah grinned guiltily. "Jareth, if you only knew how weird it is to be involved with someone who has multiple personality disorder…" she shook her head.

He smiled. She tried to get off his lap, but he held her there. "In my case, though, it is not a _dis_order. It is the _natural_ order." He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and went on. "Don't you have different 'faces' that you show the world? I already know that 'Sarah the student' is quite a different person from 'Sarah the protective big sister.' This is the same idea, except that the magic added to the mix makes the dichotomy that much more pronounced. You just saw my 'public face,' if you will."

"And now I'm seeing your private one?" Sarah asked softly, tracing the arch of his eyebrow with gentle fingers.

He nodded slowly, and brought her face down to kiss again. This time it was achingly tender, and Sarah felt her heart melting. She threaded her fingers into his blond mane and held him even closer as the kiss deepened. She felt as if she were drowning in him, and she didn't even care.

Who knows how long this might have gone on, if Jareth's mare hadn't decided to come over and nose her way in. Sarah watched in bewilderment as Jareth had what appeared to be a rational conversation with the horse.

"Janna, my darling, jealousy does not become you," he told her sternly.

Janna snorted.

Jareth went on. "Whatever Sarah and I do together is no concern of yours… and if I were you, I'd mend my attitude. Just in case she does accept me, she'll be your queen. As it is, she's already my guest and you must respect her as such."

The mare tossed her head and looked away.

Jareth sighed. "Janna, you know it's not like that. Of course I still like you. Even if I marry her, I'll still go for rides with you. I promise."

Janna swung her head back over and curled her lip. Jareth scowled. "Dover told you that, did he? Well, next time I'd listen to Dover if I were you. He knows Sarah far better than you do. Off you go, now, and tell him I said so." Janna nickered and trotted back over to her companion.

"How do you understand what she is saying?" Sarah asked in wonder (tinged with a bit of skepticism—was Jareth having her on?).

"Magic, mostly. It has an effect on animals, making them much more intelligent than in your world. With horses, because they are far, far-distant cousins to the unicorns, there is an element of telepathy as well."

"So you're hearing her thoughts, then?"

"More feelings than thoughts, but yes. And she's not that subtle; you could probably figure out what she was saying even without any magic or telepathy."

"I could, in fact. Should I be jealous?" Sarah teased.

Jareth let out a short burst of laughter, and then glared at the horses. _"Well?"_ he demanded. On cue, they both tossed their heads and whinnied as he laughed again. Still grinning as the horses calmed, he told Sarah, "See how laughable it is, to be jealous of a horse? Even they think it's funny."

Sarah couldn't keep a straight face at such nerve and egotism, and burst out laughing herself. "You made them do that!"

He shrugged gracefully,stood up and stretched. Sarah eyed his lean body as he did so, and then looked away and blushed. If she did end up married to him, she was beginning to think that the consummation part of it certainly wouldn't be a chore. The man had the body of a dancer: muscular, slender, flexible, and strong. Just looking at him made Sarah's heartbeat speed up.

He held down a hand to help her up. "Come, we should be getting back." He glanced over to the horses. "Janna! Dover! Time to go."

They trotted over and Sarah laughed delightedly as Dover nuzzled her. "What a sweetie!" she exclaimed, scratching him under the chin. She glanced up at Jareth, charmed. "Will I be able to understand him, the way you do Janna?" she asked.

Jareth's heart leapt. She hadn't added the caveat _if I marry you_. "Certainly," he answered. "It may take you a while to establish a similar rapport—Janna and I have been through a lot together. Haven't we, girl?" he asked the mare affectionately.

Janna rolled her eyes and blew out sharply through her nostrils. It was as if she were saying, "I'll say!"

Jareth and Sarah both laughed. Sarah put her arms around Dover's neck and hugged him, saying, "I look forward to getting to know you, then, Dover."

_A/N: I have to admit, after I'd already named that sweet grey gelding, I watched "My Fair Lady" and when I was uploading this all I could think of was Eliza's lusty shout of "**Dover, move your bloomin' arse!**" Got a fit of the giggles imaging Sarah saying that. Especially the Sarah in this story; she's definitely a bit prim for that sort of language! Eariwen, welcome back! This was actually the "jealous of a horse" chapter that I'd been talking about -- I wrote it the same night I emailed you. Glad things'll be slowing down a bit for you. Think I've got this in the homestretch now (why am I using horsey metaphors now?) -- another week ought to finish it off. Thanks, everyone, for your patience. _

_R&R (read and review), if you please. Thanks._


	35. Dinner Preparations

Chapter 35: Dinner Preparations

Toby was waiting for them with Hoggle when they returned to the castle. Hoggle's eyes widened when he saw Sarah's outfit, and his eyebrows twitched in surprise. Sarah didn't see, however, and Jareth pretended not to notice.

Toby was practically bouncing with impatience to tell Sarah absolutely everything about his day. "Sarah! Sarah! Guess what? Hoggle let me do most of the maze today. He says I did almost as good as you!"

Sarah flicked her eyes toward Hoggle, and he rolled his eyes and shook his head a little. Sarah bit back a grin—so Toby really hadn't done that well, and Hoggle was catering to his ego, hmm? "Good job, Toby," she applauded.

"Yes, Toby, well done. Perhaps you'll be able to return some time and finish it," Jareth suggested. "But now it is time for me to send you home."

Toby's face fell. "So soon?"

Jareth nodded. "Yes. You may come back again and visit another time, but for now—" he began spinning another crystal. "For now, it is almost lunchtime on the Saturday when you left, and your father is wondering where you've been for the last couple of hours." He tossed the crystal to Toby, who caught it reflexively.

Toby disappeared. Jareth turned to Sarah with a smile. "Now then, my love, what would you like for supper? Anything you like, just name it."

Sarah got a mischievous plan. She had never seen Jareth (or the Goblin King either, for that matter) look anything less than perfectly dignified. "I just love lobster," she suggested, trying not to smile at the thought of His Majesty wearing a lobster bib and dripping melted butter all over himself.

He gave her a suspicious look as if he suspected something, but said gallantly, "Then lobster it shall be." He formed a crystal and rolled it out the door. He smiled at her. "Care to freshen up before dinner?"

Sarah nodded eagerly, looking forward to the chance to soak her aching…uh, muscles in the big, chatty bathtub. She made her way back to her room, and surreptitiously rubbed her posterior while she waited for the tub to fill.

"What's wrong with you?" the tub asked her.

"Horseback riding."

"Ah! I'll run hot for you, then." Its painted face took on a smug expression. "You'll love it. I'm really good for after horse rides. What do you want done with your clothes? The wardrobe told me to ask you." It began to fill with water.

Sarah blinked, and glanced at the wardrobe. It stood there inoffensively against the wall, one door slightly ajar. "Hello," she greeted it.

"Oh, leave the poor thing alone," the tub said. "It's shy. But it does want to know what to do with the royal outfit you've just shucked on the floor."

"Oh, sorry... uh, cleaned and hung up, I guess," Sarah replied. Something the bathtub said caught her attention. "Wait a minute. 'Royal outfit'?"

"Well, of course! The king sent that specially, so that you'd match him when you appeared out together today."

"Why?"

"One would presume it's because you're his match," the tub said. "There now, pop yourself in now, and tell me if it's not the most soothing post-riding bath you've ever had?"

Sarah reassured the tub that the bath was indeed wonderful. She had a good long soak (though she felt a tad uncomfortable at first, having a talk with the tub while she soaked in it; but then, she realized, it had to have seen a _lot_ of naked people in its life; surely she was nothing new to it).

After the bath, she donned a comfortable-looking poet's shirt and a pair of blue jeans . The outfit reminded her of what she had worn to run the Labyrinth, all those years ago; all she needed was a vest. She opened the wardrobe and found it: it was black, tailored, and fit perfectly.

Jareth was wearing a matching outfit, when she arrived at dinner. Sherolled her eyesat first, but then her eyes were caught by the sight of the basket of bright red, steaming lobsters in the middle of the table.

Then she just smiled.

Years later, whenever someone asked Sarah what her fondest memory of that visit was, she never mentioned the magic, the loving, the wonderful rides through enchantingly beautiful scenery, or even being courted by a king and treated like royalty.

She would always give a mischievous grin and say that her fondest memory of that visit was the sight of Jareth eating lobster.

* * *

_A/N: Dreaming One: I've been sitting here just eating up your reviews. As each one lands in my mailbox I have to go read it... I tried to email a reply, but you don't have an email address listed in your bio. Anyway, thanks, and I'd better get this chapter put back up before you reach it. LOL_


	36. You Have to Ask the Right Questions

Chapter 36: You Have to Ask the Right Questions

About halfway through the meal, his fingers greasy and with bits of lobster shell stuck to his face and scattered around his plate, Jareth looked up at her with an exasperated expression, and shook his head in disgust.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Sarah burst out laughing.

He put down his fork and asked her, very quietly, to let him in on the joke.

"I'm sorry, but—you just look so funny!" Sarah told him through her giggles.

"You are mocking me again," he said, sounding peeved. He scowled.

Sarah, seeing that he was really bothered by her laughter, sobered. "I'm sorry, Jareth. I wasn't trying to be mean."

"Then why the laughter?"

"Well, I…I sort of played a trick on you. I knew lobster would be messy to eat; that's part of the reason I chose it."

"You wanted us to have a messy dinner? Why?" He was plainly mystified.

Once again, Sarah chose the most embarrassingly direct route, knowing that dissembling would only make him angrier. "Jareth, I've never seen you be anything but totally dignified. I thought it would be fun to see you make a mess of things for once."

"You wished to see me at a disadvantage, so that you could then mock me and enjoy a good chuckle at my expense. This seems to be at odds with your statement that we shall be friends, and well as with your confession that you may be starting to love me. Care to explain the dichotomy?" His demeanor changed as he spoke, until by the time he'd finished, Sarah knew she was in the presence of the Goblin King.

Even though he had spots of butter on his shirt and bits of lobster stuck to his chin, Sarah had _no_ urge to laugh this time. She winced. Put like that, suddenly her joke didn't seem so funny.

"I am sorry, Your Majesty," she said, humbly bowing her head. "It is just that I've never seen you at a loss for anything before. You're so self-assured and capable that you're rather intimidating sometimes."

He frowned. "Why would you be intimidated by me, Sarah? You weren't when you were fifteen; why should you be, now? You know we are equals. I would not pay court to a lesser being." His lip curled disdainfully.

"When I was fifteen I was so incredibly self-centered that it never crossed my mind other people might have feelings, or that I might _not_ actually be the center of the universe. And now that I've grown up and realized otherwise… well, you're powerful, and you know so much, and you can do magic. I don't _feel_ like your equal. I'm just a non-traditional college student who had a weird adventure as a child. If you're so powerful, always in control of everything and all, then what…"

All at once Sarah realized what the root of the problem was, and blurted it out. "Then what do you need me for?"

And suddenly Jareth was back. The atmosphere in the room lightened considerably when he chuckled. "Let me make sure I understand you," he said. "You deliberately asked for a meal that would be messy and undignified for me to eat… all because you need some reassurance? Is that it?"

Sarah went red. "Well if you're going to put it that way…" she muttered. He laughed aloud, and it was so infectious that Sarah began to smile as well.

"My darling Sarah, how old are you?"

"Twenty-seven."

"And you've been studying leadership qualities… uh, business management for how long now?"

"In college? Four years, this May."

"My love, I am over two thousand years old. I've studied kingcraft, magic, the art of war, and leadership skills for centuries. It is true that I don't need you for very much of that.

"However, you provide a fresh viewpoint that hasn't been steeped in Underground politics for hundreds of years—that's something no other monarch here has at his disposal. I do need you for that, but really…" he rose and went over to her, offering his hand to help her up. He went on. "Being in love is the only thing I haven't studied before. That's why I need you."

Touched, Sarah took his other hand and kissed it. "We'll learn together," she promised.

He brushed a kiss to her mouth, and asked playfully, "Does that mean you'll accept me? Is that a 'yes'?"

Sarah pursed her lips. "You're not supposed to ask the question until King Daxon's wedding," she pointed out.

"True, true," he agreed with a disappointed sigh. "Very well. Why don't we sit down and finish dinner?"

Smiling, Sarah agreed and they finished the meal amicably. Jareth's eyes twinkled whenever he looked at her, and it wasn't until the meal was almost overthat she realized he was trying to stifle his laughter over the large piece of white lobster-shell that was stuck to the front of her shirt.

"Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander I guess," she muttered in embarrassment as she picked it off and put it back on her plate.

"Though in this case, you must include the sauce for the lobster… which has made several dark stains down the front of your blouse," Jareth told her cheerfully.

The ridiculousness of the situation struck her then, and she broke down into giggles. "I might have known I wouldn't be able to get anything over on you!"

Jareth just smirked and waved his hand over the table. All the mess from the lobster disappeared, along with the butter-stains on both their shirts, and the bits of shell scattered all over the table. "Let's start over," he suggested, and a plate full of neatly de-shelled lobster meat appeared in front of each of them.

"Why didn't you tell me you could do this?" Sarah demanded, half exasperated and half delighted.

He shrugged, a tiny lifting of one shoulder. "You didn't ask."


	37. You Can't Go Home Again

Chapter 37: You Can't Go Home Again

The remainder of Sarah's visit to the Underground passed quickly, and then she was back at school beginning the countdown towards finals week. King Daxon's wedding was scheduled to take place a couple of weeks before finals, and Sarah suspected that after the fun and excitement of the festivities she probably wouldn't be in much of a frame of mind to study!

So now she poured herself into her studies, hoping to cram well enough before the wedding so that she could just coast a bit after her return. She spent whole days at the library, and ignored Paris' teasing about her being such a drudge.

She managed one more trip home, where her father grilled her about her new boyfriend. She was pleased that she was able to answer most of his questions about Jareth without giving too much away. Yes, he was fairly well-off. Yes, he was involved in politics, but more in a behind-the-scenes sort of way. And finally… yes, she liked him and lot, and things were pretty serious between them. She told her father the story of having met him twelve years ago (though she didn't go into details) and connecting back up with him again recently, and hitting it off with him this time.

Throughout all these questions, Toby sat alone at the computer in the corner, chortling to himself.

"I don't know what set that kid off this time," Robert said fondly. "Suddenly he's a lot happier, doing better in school, the whole shebang—but there's no external cause for the change. He still doesn't have any friends at school. He still…" and here Robert's voice hardened, thinking of his ex-wives, "…doesn't have a mother, and he still doesn't have any hobbies or anything fun to occupy his time. If he were a different sort of kid, I'd be thinking 'drugs,' but this? I can't figure it."

Sarah, realizing that Toby could probably hear their quiet conversation on the couch from where he sat, just smiled. "Maybe he's just starting to grow up," she suggested. "It took me a little longer… come to think of it, part of my own growing-up experience started when I met Jareth all those years ago. We didn't get along that well, so I felt like I had to prove myself to him all the time. Have you noticed how supercilious he can be sometimes?"

"I have, actually," her father commented. "It's like he's the king of some secret country or something. It didn't look like he was that way much with you, though."

Toby, sitting at the computer, choked on his soda. He grabbed a tissue and started cleaning it off his monitor screen. Sarah went into a coughing fit.

"Are you two okay?" Robert asked suspiciously. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you two were sharing a secret. But you two dear, sweet children wouldn't do that, would you? Keep a secret from your old man?" He teased.

"Sure we would, Dad!" Toby said cheerfully. "I mean, you haven't found out about my heroin habit yet, have you?"

"Toby," Sarah warned. Their father just rolled his eyes and shook his head at his only son's teasing.

Toby grinned and reached for something on the back of the desk. It was a crystal. He tossed it up in the air and caught it, then did it again.

Sarah gasped. "Where did you get that?"

"Where do you think?" No one could smirk like a teenager. Toby's smirk could have even rivaled Jareth's.

"What did he give you that for?"

"It was a present. That's all." Toby tossed the crystal again, and fumbled the catch. The crystal fell onto the carpet and rolled across the room.

Sarah grabbed for it, but her father got there first. He picked it up and looked into it. "That's weird," he said slowly.

"What's weird?" Sarah and Toby asked in unison. They exchanged concerned glances.

"It's dark inside. I can't even see my reflection in it. And yet…"

"What?" they both chorused again, in alarm.

"It looks almost like there's something moving in there."

"Oh, that," Toby said, coming over. He reached for the crystal and his father absently handed it over. "Yeah, Jareth told me about that when he gave it to me. Said it was kind of like a joke—a gag gift. If people look into it and pretend like they can see the future or something, he's got it rigged so that they really can see stuff moving in there. It's pretty advanced technology, but it's just a trick."

"I see," Robert said.

Sarah gave her little brother a grateful glance, completely missing the suspicious look their father sent their way. Soon after that, she made her goodbyes, with a whispered warning to Toby to "Keep that crystal away from Dad!"

He nodded. He whispered back, "So… _Are_ you going to marry Jareth?"

"I don't know. He hasn't asked me yet!" Sarah told him, feeling a slight pang of guilt from not telling Toby the whole story.

"Well, keep me informed!"

"I will, don't worry."

Sarah turned to hug her father. "Bye, Dad. I guess next time I see you will be at graduation. You're coming to graduation, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Robert assured his daughter. "Now you be careful with that young man of yours. Don't let him move too fast for you, even if he is a King."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, and then remembered that she had introduced him as "Jareth King." She smiled, wondering what her father's reply would have been had she completed his title: Jareth, King…of the Goblins!

"I'll be all right, Dad," she assured him. "He's been a complete gentleman. He treats me like a queen," she ignored Toby's stifled burst of laughter and went on, "and I really like him."

"Well, just you be careful. Make sure he deserves you, little Sarahkins," Robert used the pet name he used to call her as a little girl.

Sarah blushed. "I will, Daddy. I promise."


	38. Fits of Pique and Protection

Chapter 38: Fits of Pique and Protection

Back at school, she only had three days in which to pull a research paper out of some orifice or another. She spent the first two at the library, leaving only to go to class and to eat. The third day she spent typing up the paper she'd concocted, and the morning of the fourth day, she handed it in.

The fifth day was when Jareth came to get her for the dwarf-king's wedding.

Still stressed over her paper and her final exams, Sarah greeted him absently as she put away her books and rubbed her temples."Oh, hi."

"Sarah?"

Something in his tone made her pause and look at him. He looked tentative, a little taken aback by her coolness.

"What is wrong?"

Sarah closed her eyes and took in a deep sigh. It wasn't Jareth's fault that his timing was dismal. "Oh, I'm just tired and stressed-out about finals. And this wedding. And you," she added with an apologetic smile.

He stiffened. "I am sorry to have added to your burden," he said coldly. "Perhaps I should come back another time. Or not," he added, "If that would simplify matters for you."

He was rapidly turning into the Goblin King, and Sarah forestalled the rest of the transformation by going over and putting her arms around him. "It would," she admitted, "but not in a good way. I'm sorry about being preoccupied—I'm just worried about my final exams, that's all."

Slowly his arms came up to hold her. "I imagine I have put quite a bit of pressure on you that you didn't need," he owned.

Sarah touched her lips to his in a soft kiss. "You did, but I don't mind," she told him. "I think I'd rather have you around complicating my life than not have you around at all."

The corners of his lips turned up. "Is that all I am? A complication?" he teased, kissing her again.

Sarah returned the kiss gladly, and for several minutes. "A welcome complication, though… and maybe even a distraction. Maybe you can help keep my mind off my final exam troubles."

"I shall be more than happy to try," he promised, as he produced a crystal and whisked them away to his castle.

Sir Didymus was waiting for them, and Sarah went to hug him. "Didymus! It's nice to see you again!"

"As it is to see you again as well, my lady. Alas, that I cannot stay and bear thee company until thy departure for the Dwarf kingdom. I fear I must have His Majesty's attention on a few matters of State."

"Oh. Of course," Sarah said politely. She'd been hoping that the little fox was there to visit her.

"In my absence, however, my brother Sir Ludo has consented to be Your Highness' companion until the time of thy departure."

"Ludo?" Sarah said, looking around. "Where is he?"

Jareth smiled. "He's in the garden, Sarah. I'll be back to pick you up in an hour or so. Have fun!"

Sarah leaped at him and planted a firm kiss on his mouth, and then raced out. She hadn't seen Ludo in forever!

"Methinks Your Majesty's suit is progressing nicely," Didymus observed.

"Yea, verily," Jareth replied good-humouredly. "All right, let's get all that folderol out of the way so Sarah and I can get going.

"Your Majesty is no doubt aware that referring to important matters of state as 'folderol' is unlikely to be well-received by the other dignitaries, should Your Majesty use such a term in front of them?" Didymus said as he trotted along beside Jareth's long-legged stride.

"Thank you, Didymus; My Majesty is perfectly aware of that," said Jareth dryly.

Out in the garden, Sarah found Ludo staring contemplatively into a fountain. She called out his name and he turned his monstrous bulk around slowly.

"Sawah?"

"Hi, Ludo!" Sarah threw herself into his huge, furry embrace.

"Sawah, fwiend!" the huge orange arms surrounded her and the mournful fuzzy countenance looked slightly less mournful for a moment.

"Yes, that's right, Ludo. It's good to see you again. Sir Didymus had some business to do with the king, which gave me a chance to come and see you."

"Sawah… fwiend of king?" Ludo cocked his head curiously.

She nodded. "It's been a long time since I thought of him as my enemy. He never was, really—it was my own fault I wished Toby away. He found me a few weeks ago and we've been friends ever since then."

"King like Sawah," Ludo informed her, nodding. "Long time."

"Really? Wish he'd let me in on that a bit sooner!" Sarah said tartly. She knew Jareth's proposal was only twelve days away, and she still had no idea how she was going to respond to it.

"Ludo show Sawah new fwiend," Ludo volunteered suddenly. He took her tiny hand in his massive paw and brought her over to the edge of the fountain. He pointed. "Look! Ludo fwiend in water." It was his own reflection.

"Oh!" Sarah said politely. "Is that who you were with when I came out?"

He nodded several times. "Sure. Water friends with Ludo now."

"Oh! Well, good," Sarah said. Not knowing quite what to say, since this was the first time in twelve years that she'd been alone with the gigantic beast (when they used to visit, he always had Sir Didymus with him, who did all the talking). "So… how are you?" she asked. "Have the goblins been leaving you alone?"

"Ludo see goblins, Ludo call rocks," he replied succinctly.

"Sounds like a good plan," Sarah laughed. They subsided into a companionable silence, with Ludo staring into the fountain and Sarah sitting on the ground leaning against the side of it. He reached for her hand again and held it as they waited.

Sarah closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the fountain. Ludo's affectionate and undemanding companionship was exactly what she needed, and she could feel her shoulder muscles start to relax in the peaceful garden.

"I hate to interrupt this idyllic scene," came Jareth's wry comment a while later, "but it is time we left for the Dwarf kingdom." He smirked as Sarah scrambled to her feet—had she fallen asleep there on the ground, holding Ludo's hand?—and turned to the beast. "You guarded the lady well, Ludo."

Ludo contorted his great bulk into a bow to the king. Jareth nodded back. Sarah glanced at them both, open-mouthed. Everything was so different from the way it had been twelve years ago! She noticed Jareth's quizzical look and closed her mouth with a snap. She'd have time later to pump him for information.

"Goodbye, Ludo," she said, giving the orange giant one last hug. She turned to go, but he spoke again.

"Sawah. If Sawah need Ludo…"

She smiled. "I'll call."

She turned to go again, but he grabbed her hand and spoke a little more insistently. "If Sawah need Ludo with dwarf…" He turned his melancholy gaze upon Jareth.

"All right, Ludo," Jareth said. He produced a crystal from thin air and tossed it to the behemoth. Ludo caught it neatly for such a large creature. "If Sarah needs you when we're with the dwarves, this crystal will make you hear her when she calls."

"Thanks… king," Ludo said. He held up the crystal, admiring it in the sunshine. He didn't notice when Jareth put his arm around Sarah, formed a crystal, and they both disappeared.

An instant later, they were transported to the dwarf castle.

_A/N: I know that all the students here will be able to relate to the "she only had three days in which to pull a research paper out of **some orifice or another**." Y'all know exactly what I'm talking about, I just know it! It's been a long time for me, but I still remember that feeling of having an impossible deadline for a huge project. I stuck that in there specially for the college students!_


	39. Dwarves, Disco, and Dresses

_A/N: Someone asked me how I manage to update so often and with more than one chapter at a time. "What was my secret?" she wanted to know. Well, it's simple. I already wrote the first 20 chapters of this story months ago, and then left it for a while. Now, in my push to get all my long stories finished up and put up here, I started posting the beginning chapters while I was still working on the middle and ending chapters. So, while I was posting chapter 25 and 26, I was busily writing chapters 42 and 43. That sort of thing. It gives me a good chance to go in and change things towards the beginning if I need to after writing the endings. So, you'll all be pleased to know that now while I'm uploading chapters 39 and 40, I'm industriously writing chapters 48 and 49 (or so). All the ones in between are just sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to polish them up before posting them._

_This is also why I might not have taken some people's suggestions early on in the story -- because the majority of it was already written and I didn't think it would be a good idea to go in and re-write everything from the beginning. (I'd already planned for Sarah's backstory to come out during her first visit to the Underground, for example, which is why I didn't include that part in the earlier chapters)._

_Y'all will also be pleased to know that all of your reviews and encouragement are directly responsible for my even finishing this story at all. (And fret not, X-Men fans: "Rogue's Gallery" will be finished very soon after this one is). It's a case of "I couldn't have done it without you." And I mean that quite literally. I really appreciate every single review I've gotten on this one, even if I haven't had the time (or space!) to thank every one personally. So thank you all, and hang in there -- the end is in sight! I haven't written the very end yet, but all the chapters leading up to it are done and just waiting for some polish. Maybe even by the end of the weekend, who knows?_

Chapter 39: Dwarves, Disco, and Dresses

Daxon's castle was all underground except for two tall towers that poked up through the top of the mountain. The castle was breathtaking, which was ironic in a way (Sarah thought) because she wouldn't have expected to breathe such fresh air so far underground. Magic was a handy tool.

The floors were made smooth, polished stone carved into intricate patterns. The walls were encrusted with huge chunks of polished mica, which made the torchlight look almost as bright as sunlight.

The throne room was even more exquisite, with gemstones lining the walls, and two (tiny) marble thrones covered in delicately etched symbols inlaid with gold. They sat upon a high dais at one end of the room.

"This is where the wedding will take place," Jareth explained. "Daxon commissioned the second throne when he ascended himself, about 60 or 70 years ago. It was just finished last year, when his negotiations with Claro were finalized."

"I can see why it took so long," Sarah said, marveling at the intricacy of the detailed etching.

Then Jareth brought her into an enormous ballroom. "This is where the festivities will be held."

The ceiling was high and arched, and hanging in the center was the last thing Sarah expected to see. It couldn't be, she thought. It had to be something else.

"Jareth, is that a… _disco ball_?" she asked.

Jareth looked pained. He nodded. "Daxon likes shiny things," was all he said, and he changed the subject quickly.

Sarah wondered with a private smile whether Jareth's pained look was due to its tackiness—or because he was jealous! He certainly had his share of shiny things lying around his own castle. Maybe he envied the dwarf-king his disco ball. She giggled to herself at the thought.

Jareth finally brought her to her own room. "This is where you'll be staying," he said.

The door swung open, and a tiny, wrinkle-faced dwarf woman came out and curtseyed. "Lorikar, at your service and that of your lady, Your Majesty," she introduced herself.

"Thank you, Lorikar," Jareth said formally. "My lady's name is Sarah. Have you been assigned to her service during our stay?"

"I have, Your Majesty."

Jareth turned to Sarah. "Then, Sarah, I leave you in Lorikar's capable hands… but first, I have a gift for you." He reached into his waistcoat pocket (how did he even have room for pockets? Sarah wondered. His vest was so tight!) and took out a small box and gave it to her. "Lorikar, I ask you to bear witness," he requested.

The little maid curtseyed, and Sarah opened the box. Inside was a pendant: a tiny crystal mounted in a gold filigreed setting, on a golden chain.

"Oh!" Sarah said. The piece was gorgeous. She took it out of the box to examine more closely. The crystal was about the size of a marble, and the filigree that housed it was so delicate it looked as if it was made of spun gold thread.

Jareth took it from her. "May I?" Sarah bent her head and he fastened the clasp behind her neck. Then he took her hand, kissed it, and explained, "This crystal acts as any one of my regular ones do. It also puts you inside my guard while we're here. Lorikar will bear witness that I have extended my protection to cover you."

"Yes, Lady Sarah," Lorikar said. She smiled up at Jareth, her leathery mouth wrinkling at the corners. "You needn't worry, Your Majesty; I shall take fine care of your lady. And if I may be so bold, King Jareth, I offer my congratulations to you."

Jareth gave a self-deprecating smirk. "Best save them for after the accepts me, Lorikar, but I appreciate the sentiment. Well, Sarah, I shall leave you to get ready. See you this evening." He stepped close to her and brushed the hair away from her temple before pressing his lips there. Then he was gone.

"There, now, Lady Sarah," the dwarf woman said comfortably. "King Jareth's wards will keep you safe; what a thoughtful thing for him to do! Now you come in with me now, and I'll show you the beautiful gown that he sent for you to wear this evening."

Beautiful gown? Sarah's attention was caught, and she was curious to see what sort of thing Jareth wanted her to wear to the wedding celebrations. It was burgundy, low-cut, and strapless. Sarah raised a skeptical eyebrow as Lorikar showed it to her. "_That's_ what he wants me to wear?"

Lorikar nodded eagerly, and held the dress up for Sarah to step into. With a sigh, Sarah stripped down and put on the dress. She was a little self-conscious being naked in front of the dwarf woman, but Lorikar was so extremely professional (it was obvious she did this sort of thing all the time) that her unease soon faded.

Her sense of outrage grew, however, when she saw the gown in the mirror. The bodice was roughly heart-shaped, with the rounded top parts of the heart barely covering her nipples. It was backless as well, cut so low that the skirt barely covered her buttocks. "He's got to be kidding. How would it even stay up?" she muttered, turning this way and that to see herself from all angles. "What kind of girl does he think I am?" Shaking her head, she pushed the dress off down over her hips and covered herself with the dressing-gown that Lorikar handed her.

"I'm sorry, Lorikar. I'm afraid you'll have to tell King Jareth that the gown he sent is defective."

Lorikar frowned. "Defective, my lady?"

"Yes, defective," Sarah said pointedly. "Half of it seems to be missing!"

Lorikar let out a giggle before she caught herself. "I shall inform King Jareth, my lady. I assume you would prefer a gown that provides a little more… coverage?"

"Yes, definitely. A _lot_ more, actually!" What on earth was Jareth trying to pull, she wondered as she watched the little dwarf maid hurry out with the bundle of burgundy satin. Probably just trying to see how much he could get away with, she thought fondly. Just like a little boy trying to push the limits, or something.

Lorikar returned. "His Majesty King Jareth," she announced, "sends his deepest apologies for having sent you a defective garment, and begs your indulgence in allowing him to try again with this one."

It looked like the same dress. Burgundy satin, with a similar skirt… Sarah waited skeptically until Lorikar had unfolded the whole dress. She shed the dressing-gown and stepped into it.

Oh, this was better! It had a choker collar, with criss-crossed straps holding the collar to the bodice—which was cut much higher, and tailored to fit her perfectly. The back only went about halfway down. Criss-crossed straps fastened across the back as well. The skirt was full, and swished alluringly as Sarah walked a few steps over to the mirror. She nodded with satisfaction. _This_ was something she could wear while meeting all the heads of state, and would make her feel attractive but not naked. She wondered for a moment whether Jareth's first offering had actually been a joke.

Lorikar made her sit down while she did Sarah's hair for her—for a servant, Lorikar was fairly bossy, Sarah thought with amusement—and then Sarah was ready. She looked approvingly in the mirror. She looked a little nervous, but quite pretty, she thought. The necklace Jareth had given her sparkled at her throat, the crystal taking on a burgundy sheen to match the dress. She smiled at that: trust Jareth to make sure everything matched!

Jareth was at the door a moment later, breaking into a smile when he saw her. "Sarah, you look lovely." He offered his arm.

"Modest, too, no thanks to you," she scolded him.

His teasing grin showed no sign of repentance. "Ah, but as beautiful as you are, can you blame a man for wanting to see more?"

"Let's just say I'm glad I stuck that clothing clause into our agreement!"

His teasing look softened. "I wouldn't have offered you that other gown if you hadn't," he reassured. "Truly."

"Thank you," she told him, and meant it.

They arrived at the ballroom, and Jareth produced a gold-edged card from nowhere and handed it to the announcer.

"King Jareth of the Goblins, and Lady Sarah Williams from Above!" the announcer shouted.

Everyone stopped and turned toward the door. In unison, all the guests bowed or curtseyed to the couple. Sarah, remembering a last-minute lesson from her etiquette crystal, offered a shallow curtsey to the room at large to match Jareth's equally shallow bow. They entered the room, and everyone went back to their socializing.

They were almost the last ones to arrive—it was a mark of favor, as Jareth's position with the unicorns was so high—and the next (and last) personage to be announced was the dwarf-king himself.

The dwarf king was stocky and hairy; he looked not unlike Hoggle must have, when he was young. "His Majesty, King Daxon of the Dwarves," the announcer said as the short, leathery man walked in.

_A/N: SnapeMoment, you have GOT to chill, babe! --grin-- Believe me when I say that I'm writing and posting as fast as I can be expected to, and still put out a decent product.I'm already updating every day, usually with two or three (or more) chapters--if that's not fast enough for you, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait. (I won't put up "crappy chappies," even for my most impatient readers :)_

_I do hope it ends up being worth the wait._


	40. That Jareth, He's Such a Giver

Chapter 40: That Jareth, He's Such a Giver

In a land of unicorns and tall, beautiful people like the elves and the fae, the dwarf king looked dumpy and insignificant. He tried to make up for it with the length of his stride (every step looked as if he were trying to step over a puddle) and the number of weapons he could carry at once. His belt bristled with daggers; he wore a short sword and buckler, and his bow and quiver of arrows were slung over one broad shoulder. His hair and beard were long and braided into thick tails, and his face wore a perpetual scowl.

All the men bowed to the new bridegroom and the ladies curtseyed. Sarah sank down into a deep curtsey amid her swirling skirts, but Jareth caught her elbow.

"Not so low," he murmured without moving his lips. Sarah rose in unison with everyone else and risked a quick look at Jareth.

There was a low hum of conversation when the dwarf king greeted everyone and went over to speak with the two unicorns. Jareth leaned over close. Under the pretext of a loverlike embrace, he whispered, "Whether you accept my offer or not, as my companion here you mustn't bow any lower than I do; and I'm greeting Daxon as an equal."

Sarah nodded. "I'll remember," she breathed. Jareth kissed her neck, so temptingly close to his lips, and loosened his embrace. Sarah slid her lips against his jaw as he withdrew and he blinked in surprise. "Have to make you look good," she teased in a whisper.

"You already do," he answered. "Oh, look, here come Alia and Arien." Jareth greeted his friends with a glad smile, embraces and kisses on their delicate horsey faces. They both nuzzled him in a friendly way, and Arien trotted over to Sarah and did the same to her.

Sarah was surprised at first, but then remembered from Jareth's "lesson book" crystal that the unicorns viewed a married couple as essentially two halves of the same entity. They loved Jareth, so they had to love his wife-to-be as well. Sarah pushed aside the thought that they were just assuming she'd accept Jareth. She'd think about that later. Or not.

Sarah bent down with a smile and embraced Arien, kissing her on both cheeks like Jareth did.

"_It's nice to see you again, Princess,"_ Arien spoke into her mind in a flutelike, musical voice.

"Likewise, Arien, but I'm not a princess," Sarah smiled.

Arien tossed her head. _"Not in the human tradition, perhaps, but by ours you are. When you defeated the Goblin King, you were essentially adopted into the royal family of our world. It would not do for the king to have been bested by a commoner, after all! Besides, the name 'Sarah' means 'princess' in its language of origin."_

"I didn't know that!" Sarah said in astonishment. "That sure explains all the 'your highnessing' that I've been getting around here. I think Jareth might have left some things out of my lessons!"

Arien snorted_. "Doubtless he wanted your knowledge to be to **his** advantage, if I know Uncle Jareth!"_ She laughed a silvery, unicorn laugh, and Sarah agreed and joined in. Jareth, deep in conversation with Arien's mother, glanced over suspiciously. Sarah grinned and waggled her fingers in a mischievous wave. She chuckled to herself when, within seconds, he had excused himself and come over to see what they'd been talking about.

"Are you two talking about me?" he demanded.

Arien shook her mane and nudged Sarah with her muzzle_. "Actually, we were talking about Sarah,"_ she said.

"Sarah?" Jareth asked her.

"Yes, but you may call me 'Your Highness.'" Sarah told him, lifting her chin. Jareth playfully rolled his eyes and Sarah poked him in the chest. "Why didn't you tell me that defeating you made me a princess in this world? I've been trying to subsist on ramen and coffee while I finish college, and here I find I'm royalty!" She teased.

"Thank you so much, Arien," Jareth grumbled. He jerked his head towards her mother and said, "You can go now."

Chuckling, Arien trotted away, her hooves clattering lightly on the marble.

"I may yet regret introducing you to my friends," Jareth groused.

Sarah giggled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Oh, cheer up. If you like, you can fill in some of the blanks in my lesson book yourself. For example, what does a royal wedding entail here?"

Looking grateful for her changing the subject, Jareth explained in more detail about the thirteen days of feasting and celebration, and the actual ceremony that followed them.

"During the celebrations, people will offer Daxon his wedding gifts. That part is rather like a competition. The other monarchs all try to outdo each other with their gifts; whoever gives the best gift gets the most prestige." His face bore a self-satisfied smirk, and Sarah chuckled.

"So you'll be giving the best gift, of course?" she asked.

Jareth's smirk became even more pronounced. "Of course," he said confidently. "It is already done."

"What did you give him?"

"A vassal."

Sarah frowned, thinking of when she had seen him in the crystal, in conference with King Daxon and "The Troll King?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly. "Technically, King Blug should have been _my_ vassal, since he lost my wager. But honestly, I have my hands full with the goblins--what on earth would I do with trolls along with them? And Daxon wanted them because they live here on his mountain, so there it is."

Sarah, eyes dancing, asked, "Let me get this straight: you gave King Daxon something you had no use for, and didn't want, and in return you get the prestige and admiration of everyone here?"

He nodded, adding with a smirk, "I also get Daxon in my debt."

Sarah raised her glass to him in admiration of his _chutzpah_. "You're something else," she told him. He bowed, graciously accepting the compliment, and raised his glass to his lips just as Sarah finished, "And maybe someday I'll figure out what!"

The Goblin King choked on his wine. Sarah smirked.


	41. Wedding Festivities

Chapter 41: Wedding Festivities

The next several days were a whirlwind of activity for Sarah. As the guest of a king, she was accorded every courtesy from the other monarchs and nobles. And if she was sometimes the object of a jealous glance from a well-placed fae woman who had hoped to snare the Goblin King for her own, there were always other friendly ones who were curious about life Above, and the strange habits of the humans.

One woman, a petite blonde fae named Terillia, became especially notorious for giving Sarah the evil eye. The little blonde made no secret of her interest in Jareth when he politely danced with her--but Sarah ceased to be jealous when he escorted Terrillia back to her place and then caught Sarah's eye. He rolled his eyes expressively as he carefully and courteously removed Terrillia's possessive hand from his arm so he could return to Sarah.

She greeted him with a mischevous smile and a fond kiss. "Not your type?"

He shook his head and claimed another kiss. "I prefer fully-grown women." Terrillia barely came up to his chest, whereas Sarah was close to matching him in height. She chuckled and asked him for the next dance.

Strangely, Sarah became quite good friends with Terrillia's mother, Bevelyn. The tall, good-humoured fae woman was widowed. Her daughter's flirtations frequently made her shake her head and blame the girl's elven father, who had been a well-respected commoner but with a roving eye. Bevelyn was also a noblewoman who was fairly active in politics. She took Sarah unofficially under her wing and began to teach her about Underground political machinations. Under Bev's tutelage, Sarah finally began to be able to make sense of all that information that Jareth had dumped into her brain via the crystal that first night.

Bev was a bit of a cynic, too, and Sarah found her exposing the Underground's seedy underbelly to be invaluable. Jareth, as a king, simply did not see all that went on outside of the royal courts and beneath the noble manners. Bev, having been married to a commoner, explained it all to Sarah in commoner's terms. She taught Sarah to talk with the servants, to see how they were being treated, and most importantly (she explained) to get the best and most accurate gossip about the other nobles!

Sarah's mornings were filled with socializing and Bev's lessons. She met all of Jareth's friends and made some of her own. Her afternoons were filled with politics. She sat in on a few meetings with Jareth and some other monarchs, and every so often he would lean over and ask her advice or her viewpoint on a certain situation. Sarah would whisper her comments into his ear, and often he smirked afterwards, and changed the course of the meeting after hearing what she had to say.

Some of her time was spent with Alia and her daughter. Arien was rapidly becoming a good friend, and Sarah was beginning to worry about what would happen if she did accept Jareth's proposal - after they consummated their marriage, would she ever be able to see Arien again? She mentioned this to the young unicorn, but Arien told her not to worry.

"_Look around at the people my mother interacts with," _she directed_. "I admit that I myself still have to keep a clear distance from the non-virginal members of the court—it's not serious; they just make me uncomfortable—but as High Queen my mother has learned to overcome her discomfort in order to be able to speak with anyone who needs her. I have no doubt, dear Sarah, that with time, I shall learn to do the same_."

"All the same, I wish it weren't necessary," Sarah admitted.

Arien tossed her mane in what Sarah was beginning to recognize as unicorn laughter. "_Are you saying that you would be willing to wed with Jareth and not want to consummate the marriage? All for the sake of my friendship? How flattering, I'm sure!_"

"Well…" Sarah said, red-faced. "I would love to keep your friendship, Arien, but…"

"_Relax, princess. I am teasing. Though I may never understand what you two-leggers see in all that love and copulation, I can at least understand that Jareth needs heirs. Not even for the sake of friendship would I advise you to refrain from consummating your marriage._"

"And a good thing, too," was Jareth's smooth reply as he sidled up beside Sarah. She jumped, startled. He slid his arm about her waist and reached out with the other to give Arien's forelock a playful tug. "Are you advising a celibate marriage, Your Highness?" he asked, his voice silky. "If so, I may be forced to have words with your mother about you."

Arien shook her head. "_Of course not, Uncle Jareth. I was trying to talk Sarah out of vowing celibacy in order to keep my friendship. She was nobly willing to sacrifice her physical relationship with you in order to go on seeing me, you see._"

"Arien!" Sarah cried, shocked that the unicorn would lie to Jareth so baldly. "That is NOT…" she noticed Jareth's knowing smirk and Arien's mane-tossing at the same time, and subsided into outraged silence. They were _both_ laughing at her!

xxxXXXxxx

In mornings there was politics and meetings, but in the evenings there was always feasting and dancing. Sarah devoured the magical fairy fruits, and whirled across the dance floor in Jareth's arms, and felt as if she were living a fairy tale herself.

And as the days dwindled down, and the day of Daxon's wedding approached, Sarah grew more and more nervous. Jareth was even more attentive and affectionate than he had been that first night, but Sarah still didn't know whether she was willing to make such a huge commitment to him or not. First, his defeat at her hands when she was a child, and then twelve years of total silence, followed by a whirlwind 2-week courtship—Sarah's head started to spin every time she thought about it. She still didn't know what she would say when he asked.

And he was going to ask publicly! That was part of the procedure for a monarch, to make his proposal in front of all his peers. If she said yes, she would have to kiss goodbye forever her live Above. She would be able to make short visits to her family, but there would be no more college, no career of her own, just… just being the other half of Jareth. The feminist in her rebelled at the thought.

And if she said no, he would be even more crushed than he'd been the first time, twelve years ago! Not to mention she wouldn't get a chance to change her mind, because if she refused him he would be forced to marry Arien instead.

Sarah had come to like Arien very much, and it was difficult to view her as a rival in love. She knew the young unicorn was rooting for her, but was willing to marry "Uncle Jareth" (ew! Sarah thought) if she had to. If Sarah turned him down.

Her head whirled more and more, the closer the deadline got.

"Something bothering you, love?" Jareth leaned over and asked her solicitously at dinner on the eleventh night.

Sarah gave him a smile. "Just a bit of headache, that's all. It's all been a bit much lately, if you know what I mean."

He nodded. "Court manners can take some getting used to even if you grow up with them. I can only imagine how you're feeling with it all! But," he finished with a twinkle, "Just think of how I felt at that frat party!"

Sarah laughed in spite of the pain in her skull. "At least the music is better here," she conceded.

Jareth suggested that Sarah forego their nightly walk in the gardens with Alia and Arien that night, and retire early. "After all, you'll want to be rested for tomorrow," he reminded her. "You'll have to either start planning our wedding or nursing me back to health from my broken heart." He said it so lightly it sounded humorous, yet Sarah was sure he wasn't really joking.

"Good idea," she said. "The retiring early, I mean," she added hastily, seeing his expression grow alarmed. Throwing him a teasing smile, she said, "After all, I'll need to be very clear-headed to make such an important decision, won't I?"

Jareth pressed his lips to her hand and rose to see her to the door. The others had finished, and many were milling around the tables talking while some were already dancing. He ducked out into the hallway with her and took her in his arms to give her a proper kiss goodnight.

Several long minutes later he reappeared looking slightly flushed and very happy. He strode over to his four-legged friend and jovially demanded a dance. Alia gave him a long look down her nose at him, but trotted out onto the dance floor and commenced showing Jareth how much better a quadruped could dance than a spindly-shanked two-legger.

_A/N: I don't know, though; somehow I think Jareth could give even a dancing unicorn a run for her money. R & R, if you please. The rest of it's on its way._

_I must apologize; I've discovered that many of the typos in the previous chapters are due to FFN's naughty habit of removing spaces between some of the words. It happens when I save and upload, no matter how perfect the chapter is when I finish with it. It's a pain, and there's nothing I can do about it except explain, and apologize if the lack of spaces sometimes makes the words hard to read._

_**Private notes to reviewers:**_

_Odd Ball Perfectionist: Are you fluent in Spanish? I was going for "my house is YOUR house," rather than "my house, his house." If you're a native or fluent Spanish speaker, I'll look into your correction; if not, I'll stick with what I know from my own language study. Thanks!  
Jezz Redfern: No, I'm not Jewish--just an admirer. "_Chutzpah_" is in common usage in my area of the US. Is that the idiom you were referring to?  
MoonJava: Thanks for your comments; I think you're my most faithful reviewer.  
Katie: Thanks for your delightful comment! Depth is always something I strive for in my writing, and I'm glad you appreciate the details I've put in.  
Eariwen: Glad you're back! Been thinking of you lately--hope things are starting to look up for you. _

_Everyone else, thanks to you as well._


	42. A Few Observations in the Observatory

Chapter 42: A Few Observations in the Observatory

Someone stopped Sarah on her way back to her room. Thinking rapidly, she recognized him as Duleith, one of Bev's manservants. "Yes, Duleith, what can I do for you?"

"My mistress wishes to speak with you, ma'am, if you'd be so good as to spare her a minute." He was small and grey, but neatly dressed. Sarah suspected he was a gnome.

"Of course. I'd be happy to speak with her."

"Thank you, ma'am. She's in the observatory, if you'll come with me." Duleith led Sarah through some of the less populated areas of the castle until they got to a tall, round room surrounded by stairs. "You'll see a lovely view of the stars from up there, m'lady," Duleith grunted as they climbed and climbed.

"I should hope so, after all this effort!" Sarah laughed as she followed him up the last few stairs.

"This is it, Lady Sarah," he said, indicating a tall wooden door at the top of the stairs.

Sarah thanked the servant, who bowed and headed back down. Sarah rapped lightly on the door and then pushed it open. "Bev?" she called.

The tall, brown-haired woman by the window turned with a welcoming smile. "Sarah! Thanks for coming. How are you?"

"I'm tired!" Sarah admitted with a rueful smile. "All this dancing and celebrating has got me worn out. Not to mention the stairs!"

Bev smiled. "And such a big decision to make tomorrow, as well," she said shrewdly.

Sarah nodded. "And that," she agreed. "But I'm sorry. I didn't come up here to complain. Duleith said you wanted to speak to me about something?"

"I don't know how you can remember the names of all those servants," Bev commented with a smile. She glided over the door, closed and locked it. "Actually, I thought you might want to talk to me," she said. "You must have a lot on your mind, with no one to talk to about any of it."

"Thank you," Sarah said slowly, frowning, "But I think this is one thing I'll just have to wrestle through on my own."

"Alone, eh? That's true, isn't it? You don't even have your family here to help you, do you? Tell me, will you ever be able to see them again, if you accept the goblin-king's offer of marriage?"

"I… I don't know. I assume so."

Bev came closer to her, with a thoughtful look. "Sarah, tell me something. Haven't you ever found it strange that the goblin king would suffer bitter defeat at your hands, completely ignore you for twelve years, and then start coming on to you so strongly all of a sudden?"

"What are you getting at, Bev?" Sarah demanded.

"Why, simply this: have you ever considered that the goblin king is only doing this to have power over you again, so he can get you back for defeating him?"

Sarah raised her chin. "No. It has not," she said, biting each word off sharply. "Bev, what's going on?"

"Why, nothing, Sarah dear! I'm just looking out for your best interests!" Bev protested. "You don't even know if you can trust this man, and in the space of a fortnight he's asked you to give up your family, your schooling, your career goals, everything – in order to marry him and let him rule you. I'm just making sure you're ready to make such a decision, that's all."

"If I make that decision, then that'll mean that I'm ready to," Sarah said simply. "Now I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? What do you mean, Sarah?"

"I am asking," Sarah said, squaring her shoulders and meeting the woman's gaze head-on, "Which of Jareth's admirers is so jealous of me that she would take the chance of angering not only me and my friend Bevelyn, but the goblin king and even the unicorns, by putting on a glamour to look like Bev and try to talk me out of accepting?"


	43. A Greeneyed Monster

Chapter 43: A Green-eyed Monster

"Bevelyn" went pale. "How—how did you know?" Her brown hair shimmered to blonde, then back again.

Sarah shrugged. "Bevelyn would never forget the name of her manservant. Would she," she wasn't certain, but decided to take a chance on the name, "Terrillia?"

With a sparkle of glitter, "Bev" transformed into the tiny, blonde, and disdainful form of her daughter, Terrillia. "So you know me," Terrillia said. "Well, it won't do you any good! I'll give you a choice: either you promise me here and now that you'll refuse the king, or I leave you here to rot."

"What earthly good will that do?" Sarah cried, exasperated. "Even if I do refuse him, he's no more likely to pursue you than he did before!"

"That's what _you_ think!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Terrillia, you're wrong. If I refuse him, he's already said that he'll marry Arien! Think about it: if he can't marry for love, then he might as well marry for friendship and position—and what better choice than the High Princess, the daughter of his best friend?"

Terrillia tightened her lips. "You're wrong! With you out of the picture, he'll fall in love with me. He has to! No man can stand to be turned down by the same woman. He'll come to me--just wait and see!" And she disappeared into thin air.

Sarah went and tried the door. It was locked from the inside, but Terrillia had taken the key with her. She thought suddenly of a mystery she'd read once, where the victim had been found keyless inside a room locked from the inside. "I can only imagine what kinds of murder-mysteries they have in this place," she muttered.

Suddenly pessimistic about her chances, Sarah looked around and took stock of the room. There was a padded window-seat that went all around the edge of the windowed room, and a desk in the center of the room. There were some sheets of parchment on the desk, and a quill and inkwell. Struck by a sudden thought, Sarah went over to the desk and sat down. Dipping the quill, she took one of the pages and began to write about what had just happened. "As I was leaving the dance, I was met by Duleith, servant to Lady Bevelyn…" and finished with her being locked in. There. Now if she did stay there till she starved and rotted, at least they'd know what happened to her when they found her!

Scolding herself for such morbid thoughts, she stood up and made a circuit of the room. She thought it odd that an underground castle would even have an observatory, but allowed that even dwarfs must like to watch the stars from time to time.

She thought about what Terrillia had said. Of course she had no respect for the young woman, especially after this, but the girl _had_ brought up some good points that Sarah had purposely been putting off thinking about. She did trust Jareth; that part wasn't in question. What was in question was how she felt about giving up her entire life to him on the basis of three weeks of whirlwind courtship. Why _had_ he waited so long? And how would she be able to still see Toby and her father if she were living in the Underground? Would she have to help Jareth steal babies? They still had never talked about his "job," as neither one knew how to bring up the subject.

And what about her degree that she'd worked so hard at getting: studied, scrimped and saved, foregone any number of things that other people viewed as absolute necessities but that for her had been impossible luxuries. Was all her work and sacrifice to be for nothing?

Discouraged, Sarah sat down on the padded bench that surrounded the room. Well, since she was stuck here, she might at least take off her shoes. All that dancing had started to do a number on her feet. She eased them off and rubbed her arches, hissing slightly. Boy, they hurt! As long as she was here, she might as well put them up for a while.

She put her feet up on the bench and leaned back on her hands, gazing out at the night sky. It was rather nice up here, she thought. It was a bit of a change from all the noise, laughter, politicking, and raucous partying going on below. Up here she could hear nothing but her own breath. She closed her eyes, to enjoy the silence.

In the space of her next breath, she had fallen asleep.


	44. Deadlines

Chapter 44: Deadlines

The next morning, Sarah awoke to the sun shining brightly in the windows. She'd slept here all night? She swung her feet to the floor and ran for the door.

Still locked.

"Damn," she muttered. Then, "Sure wish there was a bathroom up here somewhere." She pounded on the door and shouted, but still could hear nothing. She turned around.

"What the…?" There was a door on the opposite wall that hadn't been there before. She went over and pushed it open.

It was a bathroom.

Sarah started to laugh, and she didn't stop laughing until she had finished using it. She got a drink from the tap and then went back to the outer door. She banged on it. Still no answer.

The bathroom door had disappeared again.

She shouted and pounded until her fists were sore and her voice was rough, and then gave up and sat back down on the bench.

"Double damn," she muttered as she realized something. It was the twelfth day. Today was the day when Jareth would make his proposal to her, and she'd have to give him an answer one way or another. And she still didn't know what her answer would be!

Sarah lost track of how long she spent in the room, alternating between pacing the room, beating on the door, and just sitting on the bench and brooding about her answer.

Of course, if she didn't get out of here, then she'd be too late to give her answer and Jareth would get Arien by default. She wandered over to the desk and re-read her account of what had happened the night before. She added a couple of lines to it, but for the most part it told the whole story.

She was hungry, too. She wished for the bathroom a few more times, and was able to get some water from the tap, but she wished for some real food. The real food, unlike the bathroom, didn't show up. Alas.

She spent a long, boring day up there. She studied the landscape, the sky, and the room, but there was no way out and no way to reach Jareth.

When the light started to fade again, Sarah began to really worry. She paced the room some more, fumbling with her necklace. She absently ran the chain between her fingers, and stopped when she reached the little crystal.

The little crystal. Oh, what a fool she'd been. Why hadn't she thought of using it before? Quickly she unstrung it from the necklace and held it in her hand. What to wish for first?

"I wish to see Jareth," she said. The mists in the little marble cleared and showed the Goblin King pacing and ranting in front of a white unicorn. Sarah couldn't tell whether it was mother or daughter, though. His movements were quick and abrupt, his arms flailing about as he shouted at them. They were in a roomful of people, and Sarah could see Jareth and the unicorns in the background. With a sudden rush of panic, she realized that the evening's festivities were about to begin—and no one knew where she was.


	45. Blocked Magic

Chapter 45: Blocked Magic

"What do you mean, 'she's all right'?" Jareth shouted at the Unicorn Queen. "If she were all right, she'd be here! If she were all right, she'd have slept in her bed last night! Instead, Lorikar tells me she never went back to her room after she left me last night, and Daxon tells me she couldn't have left the castle without him knowing. So if she's here, and if she's all right, then _**where the hell is she**?_"

Alia shook her head, an equine negation. _"I cannot tell you, Jareth. I do not know. She is blocked with some sort of dark green magic and I cannot find her."_

"How about Daxon, then?" Jareth turned sharply to address his host. "It's your castle, Dax. Can you find her?"

The little king shook his head and scowled. He placed a hand on his axe, fastened to his belt. "If even Alia is being blocked, then my miniscule magics are no good, Jareth. You know we dwarves are craftsmen, not magicians. I will say this, though—if she has been kidnapped or harmed in any way, I claim the attacker's life in forfeit! I extended safety to all of my guests, and I wouldn't want to be Princess Sarah's attacker when I find him!"

Jareth ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "You'll have to get in line behind me, then, as I have a prior claim on his life. I appreciate that you gave your surety to all your guests, but Sarah wears my protection around her neck."

Daxon bowed, conceding Jareth's claim.

"_Jareth,"_ Alia asked gently, _"If Sarah has your protection around her neck, why has she not used it?"_

"She doesn't know how," Jareth moaned. Why, oh, why hadn't he taken the time to tell Sarah how to use the crystal he'd given her? All he'd said was that it worked like his other crystals, but he'd never said exactly how the others worked! Damn him, he thought, and damn his precious sense of "mystery." If his ego and pride ended up getting Sarah hurt, he would never forgive himself. Never.

"_We must start the final celebration, Jareth. We will not stop looking for Sarah, but we also cannot hold off on the final night's festivities."_

"What if she's not back yet, by the time you question the rulers about their betrothals?" Jareth demanded.

Alia sighed. _"Let us hope that we can find her by then. If she is not, there is nothing I can do. Not with the entire Underground gathered under this roof. I am sorry, Jareth."_ Alia gave him a sympathetic nudge with her muzzle, and then left.

"Daxon?"

"My people are looking for her, Jareth. As many as I can spare. But… forgive me, but I have to ask you—are you sure she isn't just avoiding you? She knows you are going to propose marriage to her this evening. What if she is not ready to give you an answer? Would she hide from you?"

Jareth shook his head, scowling. "Sarah has never been one to hide. She faces her problems head-on. Especially if her problem is me. No, Dax. I know something has happened to her."

The dwarf-king nodded up at Jareth in a surprisingly sympathetic manner for such a well-armed and scowling little man. "I'll excuse you from the festivities tonight if you want to look for her yourself."

Jareth nodded. "Thanks. I will." He strode away from Daxon, muttering as he formed a crystal and glared into it.


	46. Free at Last

Chapter 46: Free at Last

Sarah was furious, frantic, and fuming. She'd tried everything with that damned crystal. She'd tried wishing herself through the door; she'd tried wishing the door to be unlocked; she'd even tried wishing that the previous night hadn't happened. She tried wishing for Jareth to take her away. Nothing changed.

If only she had a battering ram or something, to open the door! Struck by a sudden thought, she took a deep breath and called on the only person she knew who was big enough to act as a battering ram. "I wish Ludo were here. I need Ludo."

And there he was, his gigantic orange bulk nearly filling the dwarf-sized observatory. "Sawah… need Ludo?"

"Yes, Ludo. I need some help." She started to point to the door, but he bent down and studied her face.

"Sawah sad?" He was more observant than she'd given him credit for; he noticed the downcast expression and the dark circles under her eyes.

"A little. Worried, really. You see, the Goblin King is going to propose marriage to me tonight, and I don't know how to answer him."

"Yes or no," was Ludo's helpful suggestion.

Sarah smiled. "Those are the two options, yes… but I don't know which one I'll choose when the time comes. You see, I think I'm falling in love with the king, but on the other hand I haven't really known him that long. And also, marrying him will mean giving up everything I know: my whole life Above, my dad, my brother and everything. So I'm confused."

"King like Sawah," he reminded her.

"Yes, I know. Long time. I remember. But is that going to be enough, Ludo? How can I know?"

There was a long pause while Ludo deliberated over his answer.

Time was getting short; Sarah glanced into the crystal and saw an extremely dissatisfied Jareth being accosted by a blonde fae woman. Terrillia! That pushy bitch was pulling Jareth out onto the dance floor. Sarah's blood burned at the sight. Jareth politely bowed, but then turned on his heel and left the room again. Terrillia pouted.

Ludo cleared his massive throat, ready to make his speech. "Sawah stay here with king—Sawah see brother. Sawah stay Above—Sawah not see king again."

"Really?" Sarah asked, turning pale. "I wouldn't even see him again?"

Ludo shook his head. He groaned with frustration at his inability to get his thoughts across. True, his thoughts were as slow and ponderous as the rest of him, but they were also just as large. Ludo had _BIG_ thoughts.

"King want Sawah stay." It was so simple to him; he took one more stab at getting his meaning across. "Sawah have other man Above?"

She shook her head. "No, there's no one else."

"Sawah want king." It was not a question; his deep, mellow voice went down at the end, making it a decisive statement. "Sawah like king. Sawah stay." He nodded decisively.

There was a long pause, and then a lone tear slid down Sarah's face.

"It's true," she said in a very small voice. "Now that he's back in my life, I don't think I could live without him. I love him." This was such a revelation to her that she repeated it in wonder, a small, forgotten smile upon her face. "I do. I love him." The smile grew as she threw her arms around Ludo's massive bulk. "Thank you, Ludo! I've decided! I'm going to say yes when Jareth asks me to marry him!"

She stopped and looked around at the locked door. "Oh. Right. Uh, Ludo… do you suppose you could help me get out of this room?"

"Sure!" he agreed with equal parts enthusiasm and relief. He walked over the door and, with one blow of his fist, laid it flat.

"Thank you, Ludo! Thanks for everything!" She remembered something. "I have to go to my room and get ready, but would you do something for me?" She dipped the pen and added one more line, and then handed Ludo the message. "Would you please find the king and give him this? It's an explanation of what happened last night."

"Sure."

Sarah darted off down the stairs, and Ludo followed. He held up the crystal that Jareth had given him, and instructed it to "Find king!" Then he dropped it and followed its crystalline ringing as it rolled down the stairs.

_A/N: Eariwen -- Good guess, chum--Ludo saves the day, just as you predicted!_


	47. What the Welldressed Lady Wears to her M...

Chapter 47: What the Well-Dressed Lady Wears to her Marriage Proposal

Sarah ran to her room, nearly bowling over Lorikar as she burst through the door. "Hi!" she greeted. "I know I'm late. Want to help me get ready?"

Lorikar's open mouth snapped shut. "My lady! Where have you been?"

"Got kidnapped and locked in a tower by one of the Goblin King's jealous admirers. Have they questioned the monarchs about their betrothals yet?" Sarah was rapidly stripping off her dress as she spoke.

Lorikar shook her head, taking the dress and running to fill the tub. "Not yet, but soon. We'll have to hurry! What about your kidnapper?"

"Oh, I have a friend telling the king about it. If I know her, she'll be attached to him; he won't have to look far for her. I'm sure they'll have matters well in hand by the time I get there." Sarah stepped into the bath and started to wash herself with an economy of motion.

"King Jareth has been here several times looking for you," Lorikar commented from the bedroom. "He left you a gown to wear this evening."

"Oh, goody," Sarah groaned. She wouldn't have time to send it back this time! It had become a sort of unspoken joke that every evening Sarah would send at least one gown back to him. "Well, I hope it's decent for once."

"Oh, it's just lovely, my lady!" Lorikar chirped.

"Yes, but you're no judge," Sarah teased the maid. "You say that about all his concoctions!"

Lorikar giggled as she brought in a towel. "Yes, well… they'd all be plenty modest if I wore them, though." She only stood as high as Sarah's hips.

Sarah grinned, standing up and wrapping the towel around herself. "True. Those skirts are usually full enough that there'd be room under them for both you and a friend!" She headed suspiciously toward the bed, where the evening's first offering was laid out.

It was deep green, and strapless. Sarah groaned. Oh, well—it couldn't be helped. There really wasn't time to play their usual game of sending it back for a different one.

To her surprise, though, once Lorikar helped her put it on, it wasn't that bad. The neckline was a little low, but wearable, and the built-in boning would make sure the dress stayed up. It was a little tight, but for once she didn't mind. That, too, would help ensure that it didn't slide off her body during the dancing!

The skirt was narrower than her usual wont, and there was a slit up each side that went to mid-thigh. Sarah shrugged. It was the last night of the celebrations anyway, and honestly, she'd seen prom dresses and bridal gowns that were a lot worse! So she left it on, and bit her tongue when Lorikar matter-of-factly applied powder to Sarah's bosom as well as to her face!

Then the dwarf woman did Sarah's hair, performing some magic spell that dried it quickly, then applying the oil, curling it, and piling up the front and sides in a ribbon on top. The back she left down for once, and winked at Sarah in the mirror. "There, now you look like a fae woman," she said. "If you choose to accept King Jareth, they'll make less fuss about it if you've adopted fae fashions."

Sarah nodded, then turned around in front of the mirror. "How do I look, Lorikar?"

"Like a queen, my lady," the maid replied with a curtsey.

Sarah bent swiftly and pressed a kiss to the little maid's brown cheek, and then she ran out towards the ballroom.

"Cor!" said Lorikar to herself, pleased, touching her cheek. "Wonder why she did that?"

_A/N: Countdown: three more chapters till the biggie!_


	48. Caught!

Chapter 48: Caught!

Ludo had followed the crystal to Jareth, who had gone back into the ballroom to see if Sarah had been found yet. Terrillia accosted him and asked him to dance. He turned her down flat, but she dragged him onto the dance floor anyway and held him so tightly that he couldn't get away without hurting her.

Well, okay, so he only hurt her a little as he spun her around once. He was getting sick of her throwing herself at him and keeping him from looking for Sarah. He let go in the middle of the spin and turned to leave. He was stopped by a gigantic, hairy, orange finger lightly tapping him on the shoulder. He turned immediately to see Ludo there holding a piece of parchment.

"Ludo? What are _you_ doing here? What is it?"

The beast handed him the parchment. "This ex—expa—expla—expan… This story for king."

"Jareth, what on earth is this…creature… doing, cutting in on our dance?" Terrillia pouted prettily, ignoring the fact that Jareth had just spun her roughly out of his arms and had been about to leave.

"Ludo help Sawah," the beast informed her.

Terrillia went pale.

So did Jareth, scanning Sarah's account of what had happened. He read to the end, and then glared up at Terrillia.

"STOP!" He roared. All of the music and dancing ceased abruptly. He pinned Terrillia in place with blazing eyes "_Where. Is. Sarah?_" he demanded.

Alia came trotting over, closely followed by King Daxon, puffing as he tried to keep up with his quadruped queen. Without taking his eyes off Terrillia, Jareth handed Daxon the parchment. Daxon held the message up so that he and the High Queen could read it together.

Alia stomped a forehoof and let out a piercing whinny. With her telepathy, it was so rare to hear make a vocal sound that her daughter came trotting over to see what happened.

"_Arien, guard this fae,"_ she ordered her daughter.

Arien lowered her horn and held it against Terrillia's back. She snorted and backed away abruptly. _"Mother, I cannot!"_

"What?" Alia demanded. She took one step forward and sniffed Terrillia. She snorted and shook her head as if trying to clear it. She turned toward Daxon and spoke to him privately in his mind for a minute.

Daxon curled his lip in contempt, nodded, motioned his guards over to the woman. "Your life is forfeit to me, fae, as you broke my promise of safety for my wedding-guests" he growled at her, beard bristling menacingly. "But I concede the Goblin King's prior claim on it."

Terrified, Terrillia looked to Jareth to see what he would do. So did the powerful little dwarf guards.

Jareth was still pale and quivering with fury. His grey eyes darkened with anger, and he clenched his fists. "Take her to the dungeon," he ordered them in a cold, steely voice. "I'll decide tomorrow, what will be a… _fitting_… punishment for kidnapping and imprisoning a royal guest who is a princess in her own right."

Terrillia gasped; apparently she hadn't really thought her plan quite through all the way! The tiny guards dragged her away. She went with them quietly, starting to cry. Dwarves were small, but they were the best fighters in the Underground; she knew better than to try and get away.

"_That explains why we could not find Sarah behind the green magic," Alia commented. "It was the green of intense jealousy!"_

Arien shivered, her skin twitching with distaste. _"She made me very uncomfortable. Mother, is that what the 'impure' feel like?"_

"_Yes, daughter."_

"So where is Sarah now?" Jareth asked Ludo.

The beast shrugged; he had already said as many words tonight as he usually said in a year, and quite simply he was exhausted.

"_She is coming,"_ Arien informed them_. "She went to her room to prepare, and she is on her way down right now."_

"_I shall make the announcement that she has been found,"_ Alia said. Seeing the Goblin King about to bolt, she stopped him. _"Jareth, you wait here. I shall be calling names of the monarchs in a moment, and I want to make sure you and Sarah are **both** here for it!"_


	49. And it Feels So Good!

_A/N: I've had complaints that the chapters are so short, and thought I'd explain why. You see, I write the story in one big document, and then I have to break it up into chapters afterwards. The chapters are short because it's so __hard, in a Word document, to predict how long it will be when it's uploaded here. So I usually err on the side of brevity because with other stories I've had people complain that the chapter was too long and it would be easier to read if I broke it up more. Sorry they're so brief, but again, look on the bright side: at least there are generally at least two or three at a time! _

Chapter 49: "...And it Feels So Good"

Sarah paused just outside the door to catch her breath. She smiled at the herald, who bowed respectfully as she approached. His eyebrows lifted in appreciation of her dress, and he cleared his throat.

"Lady Sarah Williams," he bawled.

She thanked him and went through the door.

Jareth, two unicorns, Bevelyn, and King Daxon were all waiting for her just inside the door. She curtseyed to the room at large, just as she had done every night, and they bowed back.

Jareth waited an agonizing moment until everyone else had gone back to their dancing and socializing, before he leaped forward and enfolded her in his arms. He kissed her, hands coming up to cup her face, mouth devouring hers hungrily. He pulled her up close against the full length of his body. He held her tightly for a long moment, until a nudge from Alia's muzzle made him release her and step back. He kept a firm grip on her hand, however.

Sarah squeezed his hand and gave him a shining-eyed, boy-am-I-glad-to-see-you smile, before reaching out to Bevelyn. "Bev, did they tell you?"

The brown-haired fae nodded. "They did. Stupid girl, my daughter. I'm sorry for what she put you through, Sarah." She patted Sarah's hand with sympathy.

"What's going to happen to her?" Sarah asked.

"That's up to the Goblin King."

Jareth pursed his lips. "I shall think of a suitable punishment for her. I shan't kill her, Bev; have no fear. But she _will_ learn a lesson or two!"

Daxon stepped forward and nodded to Sarah. "Lady Sarah, I must express my apologies that my promise of safety to all of my wedding-guests was broken by one of them. I vow I will compensate you accordingly."

"That's not necessary, Your Majesty," Sarah reassured him. "I don't hold you responsible for Terrillia's actions."

"Nevertheless, I _am_ responsible, and I will make restitution. Now, if you will excuse me, I should like to dance with my betrothed."

Sarah and Bevelyn curtseyed as he withdrew.

"_Welcome back, Sarah,"_ Arien said in her mind in her melodious, bell-like voice. _"We are overjoyed by your safe return."_

"Yes," her mother chimed in. Her mental voice took on a touch of steel as she promised, "_And we shall not allow anything like this to happen again. Rest assured of that, Sarah. Now if you'll excuse us, my daughter and I must prepare to call for the betrothals." _The two unicorns nuzzled Sarah, and then turned and trotted away.

"Oh, dear," Sarah said nervously. "That's coming next, is it?"

Jareth said nothing, but lifted her hand in his gloved one, and kissed it. He looked unperturbed, very cool, and very much in his Goblin King persona.

It wasn't fair that he should look so cool after such an intense embrace! Sarah herself was starting to perspire; she was flushed and her heart was still pounding over her reunion with the Goblin King.

"Sarah, I'll see you sometime later, I hope," Bevelyn said, seeing that she'd become a third wheel. "I'm going to see if the guards will let me in to yell at my daughter. Putting on a glamour to look like _me?_ The pretentious little snot!"

"I fully agree, Bev," Jareth said. "Mind, though, that you're back before Alia calls names."

Bevelyn agreed, and stalked off, fuming.

Jareth turned to Sarah. "May I have the rest of this dance, then, lovely Sarah? I believe it will be the last one before Alia calls for betrothals."

Sarah nodded, and put her hand into his to be led out onto the dance floor.

Jareth held her close, whispering in her ear about how worried he'd been, and how glad he was that she'd returned unharmed. He explained that Terrillia had cast a spell of jealousy that not even the unicorns could see through, because it was such an "impure" concept. "I may never forgive Terrillia for denying me the pleasure of your company all day, though," he murmured.

Sarah knew there were still dozens of things they still had to talk about. Why hadn't Jareth mentioned whether or not she could go home? Why hadn't he told her how to use the crystal? Why _had_ he waited so long before contacting her, anyway? She'd expected to have these thirteen days with him to discuss all of these issues, but they had been so busy with politics, meetings, and festivities that they hadn't actually gotten a chance to talk. All of her insecurities called up by Terrillia's meddling were still in the forefront of her mind, and many of her questions remained unanswered.

The main one, though, had finally been settled. Her epiphany from the observatory filled her mind with happiness: she loved Jareth, she really did! It was such a relief to finally realize it. And along with that love came trust—she trusted him. She trusted that together, they would be able to talk and work out the rest of the details that he hadn't mentioned yet.

So for now, Sarah was content to rest safely within the circle of Jareth's arms. As the music slowed, Jareth's arms tightened around her, and she felt him tremble. "I love you, Sarah," he whispered. "Just don't forget that." Then he stepped away, and back into his royal guise.


	50. The Big Question

_A/N: All right, I admit it: I have a problem. I'm just a girl who "cain't say no," and I have a terrible time ending my stories. The upshot of this, for my readers, is that this chapter isn't the last one. there are several more after this one because there were just too many loose ends to tie up._

_So, for those who've complained about the brevity of my chapters, I hope to make it up to you by the length of the story itself! --grin--_

Chapter 50: The Big Question

The song ended, and the dancers clapped politely. Then there was a fanfare of trumpets and Alia, the unicorn leader, stepped daintily up to the dais. Her voice sounded in everyone's head at once, though her mouth never moved. _"I realize it has been so long since we've had a royal wedding that some of you younger ones may have forgotten…"_ Here she paused for the inevitable chuckles, from those who knew her as the oldest living being in the Underground. She tossed her mane—a unicorn's version of a smug laugh—and went on. _"…It is customary on the twelfth day of celebrations to ask if any unattached monarchs wish to wed. I will therefore call their names."_

A young boy ran up with a roll of parchment and held it in front of her to see. Alia thanked him very kindly, but didn't even glance at it as she began calling names. She knew them all, starting with her own daughter.

"_Arien, Crown Princess of Unicorns and High Princess of the Underground."_ As High Princess, Arien was given the courtesy usually reserved for reigning monarchs.

Alia's slender, delicate daughter trotted lightly over toward the platform where her mother stood. Her mental voice rang out clear and crystalline in the minds of the audience as she said, _"Having recently ended my former betrothal, I do not presently wish to wed." _

A murmur of consternation arose from those who'd known of her engagement to Jareth, but Alia ignored it and went on. _"Blug, King of Trolls."_

The behemoth troll that Sarah had seen before, in conference with Jareth and Daxon, stood up and growled, "Having just sworn vassalage to Daxon, I do not wish to wed."

An even louder hum of mystified conversation arose, and Sarah stole a glance at Jareth. His lips twitched a little, but his face remained expressionless. He caught her eye and dropped one eyelid in a slow wink, and Sarah had to turn aside to hide her grin.

"_Daxon, King of Dwarves."_

The dwarf-king stepped forward with two impossibly long strides. "I do wish to wed." His voice was deep and booming. "I wish to wed Claro, of the house of Fossin." He beckoned, and a young dwarf woman approached. She was short and stocky, with far fewer wrinkles than her king. She was also very heavily armed. Daxon took both her hands in his and asked her formally, "Claro _rin _Fossin, I offer you my protection, my fidelity, my kingdom to rule alongside me, and half of my worldly possessions. In return I would claim your fidelity, your support, and your loyalty so that our kingdom may prosper. In the name of Taliu, do you accept my offer?"

Sarah remembered that Taliu had been the name of Alia's unicorn husband, the former High King of the Underground. Searching her memory, she found the little tidbit of information Jareth had deposited there about Taliu: ever since his death Taliu had been seen as a sort of guardian spirit for the Underground.

Claro's voice was also deep for a woman's. "In the name of Taliu, I accept."

Trumpets blasted a fanfare, and Claro and Daxon were nearly wed. Everyone cheered. Alia looked on approvingly and went on. _"Edwina, queen of Elves."_

A voice like the tinkling of tiny bells answered. "Being still in mourning for my deceased Lord Elwin for an additional ninety-five years, I do not wish to wed."

_"Oberon, king of Fae."_

A tall, dark, and somber man that Sarah had only seen a few times before in the last few days, stood up and announced, "Being in mourning for my beloved Tatania for the remainder of my life, I do not wish to wed."

Alia went on. _"Jareth, king of Goblins."_

The Goblin King stepped forward proudly. "I wish to wed." He waited until the furor that greeted his announcement had died down, and then went on. "I wish to wed the human woman, Sarah, of the house of Williams." He indicated for Sarah to join him.

Gasps greeted his announcement of his intent to marry a human. No one had ever done it before. Heart pounding, Sarah stepped forward and placed her hands in his outstretched ones.

"Sarah _rin _Williams," Jareth said formally, very much in Goblin King mode. "I offer you my protection, my fidelity, my worldly possessions, my kingdom to rule alongside me, and most of all, my heart. In return I ask you for your fidelity, your loyalty, your support…" and here he stopped and smiled faintly at her before continuing, "…and the strength of your will, so that our kingdom will prosper. In the name of Taliu, do you accept?"

Sarah remembered the words she had spoken to him as a child, about her will being as strong as his, and suddenly she knew what she had to say. "Through years of time and hardships unnumbered…" she began. The king's slanted eyebrows drew together in a quizzical frown, but he gamely held her hands and waited for her to finish. "…I have returned to your castle beyond the Goblin City to give back the dreams that I had stolen. Now I offer them back to you, and my loyalty as well, along with my will and my heart. What say you, Jareth, King of Goblins?"

The Goblin King bowed and answered, "In the name of Taliu, I accept your offer."

Sarah curtseyed back to him and said, "And in Taliu's name I accept yours."

_A/N: Don't worry; there's more! But at least the Big Question has been settled._


	51. He's a Jolly Goodfellow

Chapter 51: He's a Jolly GoodFellow

There were a few cheers and some startled applause, shortly drowned out by a fanfare of trumpets. The hum of puzzled conversation continued long after the echoes of the brass died away, though, until Alia stepped forward again and gestured with a forehoof. The crowd quieted quickly, and Alia announced, _"I have already given my consent for this union. There shall be no objections."_ The unicorn fixed Jareth and Sarah with a satisfied glance and went right on with the list of names. _"Narlon, King of Gnomes."_

A small, swarthy man stepped forward, clothed in dingy grey. "Having only recently inherited my throne from my father, I do not wish to wed at this time."

"_Twixelin, Queen of Pixies."_

A tiny golden woman with wings fluttered around Alia's horn and chirped, "I do not wish to wed!"

The entire company breathed a sigh of relief; Queen Twixelin's voice was uncomfortably high and shrill, and no one wanted her to speak any longer than was strictly necessary.

"_Robin Goodfellow, King of Brownies."_

A lithe and wiry little man stood up with a grin and declared merrily, "Having only just learned of Jareth's preference for the two-legged, I wouldn't mind marrying the High Princess, your daughter!"

Alia snorted and glanced at her daughter. _"What say you, Arien?"_

Arien sounded merry and mischievous. _"I say that our friend Puck may have over-estimated his abilities to keep up with a four-legger, Mother! However, he may enter betrothal negotiations if he thinks he is up to the challenge!" _

"_Very well, daughter. Puck, we shall arrange the foot-race for next week in our kingdom."_

Puck backpedaled. "F-foot-race? What foot-race? Did Jareth have to win a foot-race?"

Alia and Arien's delicately horsey faces showed identical expressions of equine amusement. _"Jareth beat Arien's father Taliu in a foot-race, Puck. He didn't have to race Arien,"_ Alia explained.

Puck's jaw dropped as he stared at Jareth. The Goblin King met his gaze with a supercilious smirk that made Sarah roll her eyes fondly. "He—he outran Taliu himself?"

Alia, growing impatient, said, _"Robin, let us work out the details of the foot-race later. Tomorrow there shall be a wedding and a betrothal, but for tonight let the celebrations recommence!"_ The music started up again, and dancers slowly drifted back out onto the floor.


	52. High Stakes

Chapter 52: High Stakes

Jareth made a slight bow to Alia, then grabbed Sarah's hand and dragged her toward the outside door. His businesslike, long-legged stride made her trot to keep up, and she wondered if that was how he had won a foot race with a unicorn!

Once outside, he tugged her into a darkened corner of the garden. He pulled her into his arms and held her so close she could hear his racing heartbeat. "Is it true?" he murmured. "Did you actually agree to marry me, Sarah?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" she teased.

In answer, he captured her lips with his own and nothing more was said for several minutes. When they finally parted, Sarah frowned a little. "One thing's puzzling me, though, Jareth: how on earth did you ever beat Arien's father in a foot race?"

"It was winter," he said. Seeing she still didn't understand, he elaborated. "I wore ice skates, and we raced across the lake. Taliu couldn't keep his footing."

"Wasn't that cheating?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to win."

"So you could marry his daughter?"

He laughed. "No. He hadn't even met Alia by then. We were both still in the double-digit ages. I just wanted to win the bet."

"Aha!" Sarah cried. "I might have known there was a bet involved! You and your games. What did you win?"

Jareth looked quite chuffed. "My kingdom." He smiled at her look of amazement.

The amazement rapidly turned into suspicion. "One more thing I have to ask, Jareth, my love."

His smile softened. "Continue calling me that and I'll give you anything you ask."

"How much did you win on me?"

"Pardon?" He looked uncomfortable.

She poked him lightly in the chest. "I want to know how large a pot you had going, and how much you won from your various bets when I accepted your proposal?"

"What makes you think…?"

She just gave him a _look_, and he sighed. "You know me too well, Sarah. Let's just say that when you agreed to marry me, you made me not only the happiest man in the Underground, but one of the richest as well. All of the other rulers know our history, so hardly any of them thought you would want to have anything more to do with me."

"So they all bet against me, whereas you…"

"Remained hopeful that you would yet decide to grace me with your hand." Seeing that she was more amused than angry, he drew her back into his arms. "The unicorns were on my side, because they had met you. Every other monarch bet against you. I've won quite a large amount from them; I shan't have to collect taxes this year, thanks to you."

Sarah's chuckle turned into a full-fledge laugh and she threw her arms around Jareth. "I love you," she told him, still laughing.

He gasped and clutched her convulsively. She held him close to her. "Jareth, are you all right?"

"You should warn me before telling me something like that," he joked. He drew her into another kiss that soon had her body buzzing with desire.

"So how soon can we marry?" she whispered, pressing her lips to his neck.

His reply was amused. "Tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough for me, love. But Daxon might take it amiss if we were to steal his thunder. We should definitely decide tonight, though, as we'll have to announce a wedding-date tomorrow."

The mood shifted from passionate to prosaic as they went to sit together on a bench at the edge of the garden. "I also have graduation coming up," Sarah mused. "Not that it matters if I'm not going into business like I thought… but I've worked hard on that degree and I _would_ like to actually receive it."

"I know that you'll be giving up a lot of things for me, Sarah," Jareth said. "I do want you to know how much I appreciate it—but one thing you shan't have to give up is your degree or the knowledge that earns it. If you want the truth, I was quite happy to hear of your studies in business management—it sounded to me as if your studies are exactly what a queen-in-training would have done."

"Really?" Sarah asked, pleased.

He nodded. "You've learned how to manage people, which is close to the same thing as learning to govern them. I would say you've done well; you'll make a good queen."

She smiled. "So let's plan the wedding for after graduation, then. Boy, won't Toby be thrilled! He'll be able to come visit again; he loved it here."

"Shall we petition your father for custody of him, then?" Jareth asked. "I could get a private tutor for him, and he could come and live with us until he is of age. I remember you saying that his schooling was not a happy experience for him."

"It's a possibility," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Oh, Jareth, what am I going to tell my father? He's going to think this is awfully sudden. Come to think of it, I think it's awfully sudden too!"

He smiled. "Tell him that you're madly in love with me and don't want to wait any longer than you have to, to marry me."

"Yes, and that's true—" Sarah was interrupted by a kiss, and she gave that her full attention for a few moments before continuing "But what shall I tell him about where we live? What you do for a living? That sort of thing."

"We shall tell him we live somewhere in the British Isles—which is true, since there are spots there that connect with the Underground—and that I am heavily involved in politics. Tell him I've offered you a job for my company. You shall come to work for me there. None of that is a lie."

Sarah sighed in relief. Everything sounded so logical, the way that Jareth shaded the truth to sound as un-fantastical as possible. "Okay. That sounds good." She paused for a moment and asked, "What's going to happen to Terrillia?"

Jareth's lips tightened. "When we return tomorrow, Terrillia will be transported to the dungeons in my own castle. I shall think of something suitably… inventive… to do with her."

"Wouldn't want to be her!" Sarah chuckled. She sobered. "We still have a lot of things to talk about, though, Jareth," she told him seriously.

"We'll have time, love," he said, drawing her into his arms to kiss her again. And again. This went on for several enjoyable moments, until they were interrupted by a loud growl.

Jareth's slanted eyebrows shot up in surprise. Sarah's face turned red as she clutched her stomach. "Um, Jareth? Do you suppose… maybe… we can go find me something to eat? It's been a really long day."


	53. Betrothal Jitters

Chapter 53: Betrothal Jitters

The next morning, Sarah woke up wondering what was so important about that day. Why was she so excited? Then she remembered: it was King Daxon's wedding day, and the day that she and Jareth would be formally betrothed.

She jumped out of bed and hurried through her bath (the tub remained silent, which was odd; she was used to chatting with the tub in her own bathroom in Jareth's castle). Lorikar, the dwarf maid, came in with a towel just as Sarah was getting out of the tub. "Good morning, my lady!" she greeted cheerfully.

Sarah smiled at her, nodding thanks for the towel. "Good morning, Lorikar. What have you brought me to wear to the wedding?"

Lorikar's leathery little face creased with a smile. "Oh, it's so lovely, my lady! King Jareth picked it out especially!"

"This should be good," Sarah said cynically. She'd had to send back so many of Jareth's offerings already, because they weren't up to her standards—or her cleavage.

Lorikar brought out the dress, and Sarah had to admit it was lovely: deep purple satin, with a full skirt and a fitted bodice reinforced with a built-in corset. It was high-necked, Sarah noted with amusement. Apparently, Jareth was trying to make up for the pale blue concoction he'd sent two nights before, which had been cut in a deep V halfway down to her navel and showed the entire inner curve of both her breasts. "In his dreams!" had been Sarah's scornful reply as she sent it back, and he had sent back amused confirmation of that fact, along with a more modest gown.

This one, though, came up past her collarbone. It was sleeveless and cut low in back. A pair of fingerless gloves came all the way up her arms so that only an inch or two of her upper arms showed. Sarah nodded approval, and the tiny maid helped her into the dress.

"Now then, my lady, sit you down and I'll do your hair," Lorikar said.

Sarah sat. This was the best part of being waited on, she thought. She loved having someone else brush her hair.

Lorikar brushed, oiled, curled, and scented her hair, and then arranged it in a sort of Regency style trimmed by a wide purple satin ribbon that matched the dress. She applied some makeup lightly to Sarah's eyes and lips, and stepped back. "There now, my lady. Tell me what you think of that."

Sarah stood up and looked at herself in the mirror with astonishment. She almost didn't recognize herself in this stunning, sensual, and queenly figure staring back at her from the mirror. "Is that me?" she wondered aloud.

"Of course it is, my lady!" Lorikar told her briskly. "Can't be betrothed to a king and not wear the royal colour, now, can you?"

"Oh?" Sarah was intrigued. The more she learned about Underground customs, the more fascinating she found them. Which was probably a good thing, she reflected, since she would be ruling there as a queen in just a few months. The thought made her turn pale with terror, and she grabbed the edge of the dressing table to steady herself.

"Are you all right, my lady?" the maid asked anxiously.

"Yes, I'm all right. Just a little… terrified, that's all," Sarah admitted with a weak smile.

The little dwarf tsk-tsked at her. "Just you get a good look at King Jareth, my lady. You lay eyes on your man and I guarantee all your fears will vanish."

"No, that might just bring up other ones," Sarah muttered to herself. "And it might depend on what _he's_ wearing at the time, too!"

The little maid chuckled and hustled her out the door.

Jareth was dressed to match her. Sarah stopped short when she saw him, and smiled. "I might have known," she muttered as she went to meet him. "He's such a clotheshorse!"

Jareth was wearing purple breeches with a matching vest over a white ruffled shirt. A deep purple velvet jacket opened in front, showing the most complicated embroidery on his vest that Sarah had ever seen. It was his pendant, she realized. The downward-pointing crescent was sewn all over his vest. Dimly she recalled another bit of info from Jareth's etiquette crystal: each monarch had a symbol of office, which was somehow displayed at any major state event. A royal wedding and betrothal was the most major political event there was; hence, the repeated design on his vest rather than just a single one.

Jareth was firmly in his kingly persona.

"My Sarah, you look ravishing," he purred, giving her a brief bow. "You must know that I'll have to do some Sarah-ravishing a little later."

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Sarah said with a small curtsey. She let her gaze wander over his figure quite boldly. "You look…"

Dare she say it? Ah, why not? She was about to get engaged to him anyway. "You look good enough to eat."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then he gave her a smirk. "Alas, we'll have to save the devouring until after we're married," he said, smoothly offering her a royal arm. He continued in an undertone, "But I shall certainly see that you don't starve to death before then."

Astonished at her own boldness (and sheepishly pleased at his response to it), Sarah took his arm feeling that if it were dark out, the glow of her red face would light their way.

_A/N: I keep thinking this story is almost over, but it keeps getting longer instead. All right, I admit it; I have a problem putting an end to things! Ah, well, hope I'm not boring y'all with it._


	54. Weddings and Betrothals

_A/N: My apologies for not updating sooner. Blame FFN, though, not me._

Chapter 54: Weddings and Betrothals

For an important political event with such a huge build-up, the dwarf-king's wedding was surprisingly short. They exchanged a simple set of vows; Daxon gave his bride a necklace with his symbol of office on it (the dwarf-king's symbol resembled a stylized hammer), and the wedding was over. The coronation took a little longer: the new bride had to kneel and recite a very complicated oath of office from memory, and then Alia motioned with her head for the king's aide to step forward with a large golden crown. Alia touched the crown with her horn, and then the aide lowered it onto Claro's head. The crown was quite solid; every inch was encrusted with jewels, and Sarah thought it actually looked a little gaudy. It did certainly look heavy.

Then Alia, as High Queen, stepped forward and touched the new queen's forehead lightly with her horn. She did the same to Daxon, and then wheeled around (mane and tail flying) to address the throng. "_All hail their majesties, King Daxon and Queen Claro!_" Her voice rang triumphantly in the minds of all the guests, and all at once everyone knelt. Even the other monarchs honored the newly crowned queen, just this once, by kneeling. Alia knelt too, bending one knee and lowering her head deferentially for a moment. Then she stood up tall and lifted her head. "_Greet their Majesties!_" she encouraged, and the hall erupted with cheering.

With a beaming smile replacing his usual scowl, the king offered his arm to his new queen and led her down the aisle. The crowd parted respectfully for them, and they exited through the doors at the back.

"What happens now?" Sarah whispered.

"Now it's our turn," he said quietly. "Be brave, sweet Sarah. I promise it won't be as bad as you fear." Sarah couldn't tell whether he was speaking as Jareth at that moment, or as the Goblin King. She was finding as she spent more time with him, that not only did he switch back and forth much more readily than before, but that the difference between his two personas wasn't as pronounced.

Alia waited till the hall quieted down, and then called then both forward. "Jareth _rin_ Emrys and Sarah _rin_ Williams, come forward."

The crowd parted once again, this time for the two tall figures clad in royal purple. "_Rin_ Emrys?" Sarah whispered as they went forward. "As in, Merlin Emrys?"

He nodded. "You've heard of my ancestor?" he asked in a surprised whisper.

"Everyone in the whole world has heard of him! King Arthur's advisor, who fell in love with the Lady of the Lake and was entombed for eternity? I've read books and books about him. I even named my dog after him!"

Jareth smirked. "I'm sure he'd be flattered," he said dryly. "Many of those legends are significantly embellished, though. Remind me and I'll tell you the real story someday."

Sarah's eyes widened, and she nodded eagerly but said nothing. They had reached the dais. They climbed the stairs and bowed to Alia.

The unicorn approached and sniffed them both. She turned and announced to the guests, "_Jareth, the Goblin King, desires to espouse the human woman Sarah Williams, who solved his labyrinth and defeated him twelve years ago. I have given my consent. Are there any questions?_"

Sarah held her breath.

"Alia! A question," requested the swarthy little, grey-clad gnome-king.

"_Yes, Narlon?"_

"Why does Jareth seek to wed himself with evil?" Narlon asked.

A murmur rose through the crowd, and Sarah's chin came up. "I am not evil," she told him before Alia could speak. She ignored the rising rumble of consternation and continued, "Humans are not evil. I know that no monarch here has ever married a human before, but we are not evil. We're a mixture of good and bad, just like everyone else. Except perhaps the unicorns," she amended, seeing the High Queen's amused head toss.

"But—but, her hair—!" Narlon exclaimed.

With a dry and longsuffering tone, Jareth stepped forward and nodded to Narlon. "Narlon, if you were to crawl out of your hole more than once a century, you would learn that a human's hair color has little to do with his heart. Humans are not like gnomes. Sarah's hair is dark, yes, but Alia and Arien have examined her and found her to contain light within."

Alia nodded her head, her turquoise spiral horn flashing in the torchlight. _"Jareth speaks the truth. Are there any further objections?"_

Narlon bowed and withdrew in silence. No one else spoke.

Alia nodded to Jareth, who stepped forward and unclasped Sarah's golden crystal necklace he had given her before. He held the pendant in his hand for a moment, and then offered it back to her. The pendant had changed slightly in its design, but the crystal remained the same. He reached up carefully, so as to leave her coiffure undisturbed, and spoke in ringing tones of archaic English. "Sarah _rin_ Williams, I promise to take thee to wife, exactly six weeks hence. I vow to share with thee my heart, my strength, and my kingdom. I shall require of thee thy strength, thy faithfulness, and thy heart in turn. I shall also require heirs of thee. Art thou willing to meet my requirements?"

Having been coached ahead of time, Sarah wasn't surprised by the formal and old-fashioned language. She was surprised, however, by the fact that her carefully-drilled response had disappeared from her brain.

In her nervousness, she had forgotten every word of what she was supposed to say.

She looked around in a panic. Jareth, firmly in his Goblin King personality, merely tipped his head back a little and calmly waited for her answer. Alia was impassive.

Desperately, Sarah caught Arien's eye, and was overwhelmed with relief when she heard the little unicorn's amused voice in her mind, prompting her. "Jareth _rin_ Emrys," she began. She darted a quick look of thanks to the little unicorn, took a deep breath and continued, "I am willing to meet thy requirements. I promise to take thee to husband six weeks hence. I vow to share with thee my strength, my heart, and thy rule. I am willing to provide thine heirs."

"_It is done,_" Alia announced. "_They are betrothed. Neither may withdraw without my permission_." She stamped a fore-hoof and said, "_Let us offer King Jareth and lady Sarah our congratulations!_"

Once again, the hall resounded with cheering, though it was much more subdued than for Daxon and Claro. When the noise died down, Alia directed, "_Now, let us depart with glad hearts._" Little by little, the hall emptied out until only Jareth, Sarah, and the unicorns were left.

Jareth knelt to embrace them each in turn, and then stood up. Sarah followed his example, with the addition of a grateful whisper of "Thank you!" in Arien's fuzzy ear. Jareth reached for her and drew her into his arms. Still looking very kingly (she could tell by the way he held his head), he transported the two of them back to his castle.


	55. She's Only Human

Chapter 55: She's Only Human

Sarah found to her surprise that Lorikar, her little dwarf-maid, was waiting for her in her bedchamber. "Lorikar! What are you doing here in the goblin kingdom?"

"Good day, my lady. King Jareth arranged with my king for me to come here and go on working for you. I hope that meets with your approval?"

Sarah nodded, pleased. "Very much! But why wouldn't you want to stay in your own country?"

Lorikar shrugged. "I always wanted to be an exchanger, but never thought I'd get the chance. You know, like your friend Hoggle. He's an exchanger, too. Cor, he'll be pleased to see a fellow countrywoman here, I'll wager!"

"Exchanger? You mean Jareth exchanges goblins for dwarves?"

"Dwarves, elves, trolls, what-have-you. We, all of us, like to spend time in other countries, and the servant exchange program is a good way."

Sarah smiled, charmed at the idea. Instead of "exchange students," the Underground had "exchange servants." What an interesting concept!

Unfortunately, that was the only time she had to engage in idle chatter with her maid—or with anyone else. Upon her return to Jareth's castle, she began her intense study of queen-craft. Underground history, politics, wars, dates, Jareth's ancestry—all of it had to be learned before her ascension to the throne.

Jareth himself was her tutor for much of it. For the most part he was a good teacher, knowing when to lighten the academic mood with a little flirting, but sometimes he got so involved in the lesson that he became short with her when he lost her attention.

"Sarah!" he snapped one afternoon. "It is difficult for me to explain the political nuances of the Troll Wars when you won't stop showing me your tonsils like that!"

"Sorry," Sarah said, wanting to yawn again. She blinked several times. "Maybe we should take a break. I'm so sleepy!"

"We don't have much time. If you're too sleepy to listen and study now, how do I know you won't be too sleepy to listen to my advisors when we're in a council meeting? How do you plan to stay awake during the next affair of state? You _must_ know all of this, Sarah! We don't have time for 'sleepy'!" He paced back and forth, agitated.

Fully awake now, and furious, Sarah pushed back her chair and stood up. "Look, Jareth. You were the one pursuing me! I didn't ask for this! I accepted your proposal because I'd fallen in love with you… and if all this goes along with you, I'm willing to take it. I'm willing to learn it. Fine."

Sarah took a deep, shaky breath and went on. "What I'm _not_ willing to do is let you treat me like a recalcitrant schoolchild, or speak to me with such contempt. If you've stopped loving me, then let me know now so we can ask Alia to release us from the betrothal. I love you, yes, but even if I can live without your love, I _cannot_ live without respect! And I'm not feeling much of that from you right now!" She turned on her heel and stalked off.

Open-mouthed, Jareth watched her go.

_A/N: Fret not!_


	56. Resolving to Return

Chapter 56: Resolving to Return

Sarah reached her room and burst into tears. It had all been too much, she thought. In addition to the academic pressures of getting all of her senior projects in and studying for finals, there was Jareth flying in (literally) and sweeping her off her feet with his declarations of love, the grandeur of his lifestyle, and dangling her childhood dreams in front of her eyes. All she had to do was reach out and take them, and she had.

…Only to find that her childhood dreams still had grownup responsibilities attached. Now her final exams, which had loomed monstrously in her future, had faded into near-insignificance compared with her wedding and her learning to be a queen. She shook her head. "What am I _doing_?" she asked herself aloud.

"Are you asking me?" asked her bathtub from the next room.

Startled, Sarah laughed in spite of her misery. "No, I wasn't. I was just talking to myself. Sorry to have bothered you."

"They say that's the first sign of cracking up," the tub supplied helpfully. "Talking to yourself, that is."

Sarah chuckled. "In my world, it's when you talk to a bathtub. When they know it's really bad is when you hear the bathtub answer back!"

"Well! I guess I don't think much of your world, then!" the tub huffed at her.

Sarah smiled sadly, her mind wandering back to the problem of Jareth. She should have known it was too good to last. He hadn't been "Jareth" for days on end, now; he was so wrapped up in preparing her for the role of queen that he hadn't once left aside his own role as king for what seemed like a very long time. It was his formal role, too—there hadn't been any more searing kisses or dual entendres or anything more than a fleeting touch, a quick brush of his lips on her hand, ever since they returned from Daxon's wedding.

Perhaps now that he'd won her, he didn't have to put his energies toward wooing her anymore, she thought bitterly. Maybe they'd better call it off so she could get back to her "real" life Above. It would be good to get back into the swing of things, she told herself with a false cheer. Gearing up towards graduation, looking for a "real" job (never mind that she would have been a queen; she pushed that thought out of her mind)… and she'd see her father and Toby again. That part was good.

The light faded as she brooded, and when the candle on her dressing table lighted itself with a spark, she jumped in surprise. Right, then. Time to go find Jareth and ask him to send her back.

Never mind that leaving him would tear her heart out.


	57. Making Up, and a Mystery Solved

_A/N: Okay, this one's a slightly naughtier chapter than my usual fluff... but I did get an email asking why Jareth was wearing blue jeans all the time, so I had to address the question here._

Chapter 57: Making Up, and a Mystery Solved

She rolled off the bed to her feet and headed for the door to go look for Jareth. Just as she got there, a knock sounded. She opened the door.

Jareth stood there. He was dressed from head to toe in black, and he looked even paler than usual; faded, even. He looked almost broken, much like the way Sarah had left him twelve years ago. "Good evening, Sarah," he said quietly.

"Good evening," she replied with equal calm.

"It appears that we need to talk. Will you walk with me?" He offered his arm as usual, and Sarah hesitated a moment before taking it. The hesitation made him tighten his lips and look away.

He brought her out to the garden, where fairies lit their path with tiny, darting glows. Some of the flowers gave off their own lights, and the air was filled with heavy, delicious scents.

"There are some things I must tell you," he began, and then paused.

"All right. There are a few things I should say to you, too," Sarah replied evenly. This was it, she thought. He was going to tell her that their betrothal was a mistake, and that he would petition Alia to break it. Well, she'd let him have the honor of saying it first, but if he didn't say it then she was going to.

Jareth stopped and faced her, his face half-shadowed in the twilight. "Sarah, will you accept my apology?"

"_What?_" That was the last thing she'd been expecting to hear.

He flushed and dropped his gaze. This was definitely Jareth here with her now. The Goblin King would never have shown his chagrin. "I know I treated you very badly. I've been pushing you much too hard, and I've been so caught up in the lessons and the politics that I've lost sight of the important things… but Sarah," he turned his imploring grey eyes back to her. "I do love you, more than anything. You also have my complete respect even though I've behaved like an ass toward you. I am sorry, and I hope you'll find it in yourself to forgive me."

This time it was Sarah who stared, open-mouthed. "You—you _do_ still love me?"

"I do. More than ever. Do—do you still love me?" he sounded like a timid child, and Sarah's heart went out to him.

"I do," she assured him. "But Jareth, this has all been so sudden! I was gearing up for my final exams—my brain was full already!—and then you start me off studying stuff that's so esoteric I have no frame of reference for it, and pounding it into my skull that it's so important that your entire kingdom depends on my knowing the exact dates of every single Troll War in the last three millennia, and scolding me like a child when I reach my limits." She shook her head once, sadly. "I'm sorry I let you down, but I just can't take that kind of pressure. Maybe you would have been better off staying with Arien."

"Oh, Sarah!" he cried, pulling her into his arms. "Never say that! I'm the one who has let you down. None of those things are as important to me as keeping your love. I thought I'd lost it this afternoon, when you quite rightly put me in my place. I fully expected you to ask to go home, when we came out here this evening." He pressed his lips to her hair and tightened his arms around her.

Sarah, once again in Jareth's arms, was beginning to feel that yes, they might actually survive this intact. "I had been planning to," she admitted, "but only because I thought you had come to break up with me and send me home." She touched his cheek with her lips and buried her face in his neck.

"Never," Jareth promised, and kissed her lips.

Ah, it was like coming home! He'd nearly forgotten the sudden rush of desire, the feeling of Sarah's warm, yielding body in his arms, the taste of her delicious mouth. He bent suddenly and scooped her up in his arms, his mouth never leaving hers as he sank down onto a bench with Sarah in his lap. His lips travelled down her neck, the scent of her skin driving him mad with want, and then back up to her mouth, which shaped itself to his as if it had been designed solely with goblin-king-kissing in mind. The line between his two personalities became blurred as Jareth's need grew and the Goblin King learned some humility through the mistakes he'd made.

After a while, when Sarah reached the point of wanting to tear his clothes off right there in the garden, she forced herself to turn away from his insistent kisses. "We—we should probably stop," she panted. "Or else we'll start a scandal when Alia examines us at the wedding." She slid reluctantly off his lap.

Jareth nodded, still gazing at her with raw longing. "You're right, of course," he said. "Damn. I wish you weren't."

"So do I!" replied Sarah with an emphasis so strong it made them both laugh and lightened the mood. She came and took his hand. "So come and walk with me, and tell me why you've been pressuring me so much."

"I will as soon as I can stand up!" Jareth said ruefully.

Sarah laughed and blushed a little. "Should I apologize, then?" she asked, adding in a saucy tone, "Because I'm not actually sorry, so I'd be lying."

"Teasing wench," Jareth muttered under his breath. He waved his hand, and suddenly he was wearing the blue jeans and soft blue knit shirt that Sarah had seen him in before. He stood up and straightened painfully.

"Why the outfit change?" Sarah asked. "Other than the whole 'it's what you do' reason, I mean. Why blue jeans?"

"You've seen the somewhat… revealing fashions popular here," he pointed out. "When a man is new to the world of physical desire, denim is a lot more forgiving and hides more than any of my world's fabrics."

"Is THAT why you've been wearing the jeans so often?" Sarah gasped in astonishment. "It's to hide your… "

"Yes. As you'll remember from before, my former attire hides nothing. Now can we please change the subject?" Jareth asked, his discomfort plain. "As I recall, you wanted to know why I turned into such a git after Daxon's wedding."

"Yes, actually," Sarah left off teasing him in favor of actually finding out some information. "Why _did_ you turn into such a git, anyway?"

"No monarch has ever taken a human spouse before. Humans are not overly popular with many of the races down here, because many of them have stopped believing in us. Magically, that robs the Underground of much of its power. Humans in themselves can no longer do magic, though many fool themselves into thinking they can. They have such absurdly short life-spans and reproduce so easily that every twenty years or so spawns a new generation that's even less likely to believe in us than the one before.

"This is the mindset that you'll be fighting against, Sarah. I am exceedingly sorry about all the pressure I put on you, but the truth is that you _do_ have to know these things in order to fully understand your position here."

"About that lifespan thing," Sarah began. "How is it going to help your rule to have a human queen with such a short lifespan? Compared with Arien's, for example. Because from your point of view, we'll just be getting into the swing of ruling together when I'll die of old age! And how are you going to feel, looking all young and handsome, with such an old and decrepit wife?"

Jareth's face took on a faint smile. "Sarah, Sarah. Don't you read your fairy tales? Humans for the most part don't age here. Ever read the story from your own country, about Rip van Winkel? When you're with us, you don't age very much."

"But I will still age."

He nodded. "But slowly. And only until you produce an heir, actually." He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "When our blood is mixed in the body of our first child, you'll take on fae characteristics. Magic… immortality…"

"Our first child, huh?" Sarah found the idea strangely appealing, to have Jareth's child.

He nodded, and drew her close to kiss her again. Apparently he found it an appealing idea, too.


	58. Telling the Family

Chapter 58: Telling the Family

After some discussion, they arranged for Sarah to return home until after graduation. She thought she would be better off finishing up with one set of pressures before diving into the next. First things first, though. They had to inform her family. Next morning, they rejoined the world Above, and drove to see Toby and Robert.

Sarah's car pulled up in front of her father's house. She parked and got out, and was nearly bowled over by 98 pounds of flying 13-year-old.

"Sarah!" Toby cried, flinging his arms around her. "We weren't expecting you!" He glanced over at Jareth, just getting out of the car. He grinned at the king. "Hi, Jareth!"

"Hello, Toby."

"Is Dad home?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, but I gotta warn you—he's been kinda weird since your last visit."

"Weird? Weird, how?" Sarah kept one arm around Toby and tucked her other arm through Jareth's as they went up the walk.

"Weird, like he stares at me a lot. And he got out my baby pictures this week and started asking me a lot of wacked-out questions about how much I remember from when I was a baby. If I didn't know better…"

Toby's voice cut off abruptly as his father opened the door.

"Sarah. Jareth," he greeted them with no sign of surprise. "Come on in." As his son made a move to bolt, Robert grabbed his arm. "You too, Toby." He motioned them all into the living room and took the chair that sat opposite the couch. They all sat down, with Sarah in the middle.

"I'm glad you two happened to come by today," he said to Sarah and Jareth. "I've been wanting to talk to you both."

"We wanted to talk to you, too, Dad," Sarah volunteered, a little nervously. Toby was right: their father _was_ acting a little strange!

"All right," Robert said calmly, leaning back and folding his hands. "You first."

Jareth spoke for the first time, his voice betraying nothing. "I have asked your daughter to marry me," he said, cutting right to the chase. "And she has agreed."

"**_Yes_**!" Toby crowed, pumping his fist in the air. The other three raised their eyebrows at him, and he went pink. "Uh, I mean congratulations. Yeah. That."

Jareth smirked. "Thank you, Toby. Believe me, I felt much the same way about it."

"So you love her, do you," Robert paused before adding the name, "Jareth?"

"I do, yes."

Robert looked to his daughter. "And you love him, do you?" It was almost a sneer, and Sarah's eyes flashed as she lifted her chin and took Jareth's gloved hand in hers.

"Yes, I do, Dad."

"Gettin' mushy in here," Toby complained. "Can I go?"

"Yes. You can go upstairs and bring down that crystal you said Jareth gave you. You know, the 'technologically advanced' one?" Robert's face was expressionless.

Toby exchanged alarmed glances with his sister, and started up the stairs.

"What's going on, Dad?" Sarah asked. Her tone brooked no dissembling.

"We're about to get a few mysteries cleared up around here, honey. That's all. Aren't we, Jareth?"

Jareth bowed his head politely. "If you like."

Toby reappeared with the crystal, and gingerly placed it into his father's outstretched hand. "What happened? What'd I miss?" He sat down again next to Sarah, both looking pale and wide-eyed. Jareth leaned back, unperturbed.

Robert cleared his throat. "So… Who wants to tell me the story of the baby, the teenaged girl, and the fairy king?"

_A/N: Anyone want to join me in a rousing chorus of "Dun, da dun dun DUN"?_


	59. The Rest of the Story

Chapter 59: The Rest of the Story

"Actually, that would be 'Goblin King,'" Jareth corrected.

"Goblin King, eh? You looked more like a fairy than a goblin, when I saw you in the crystal here. All those ruffles and tights…"

"Dad!" Sarah cried, shocked.

Toby snickered.

Jareth stood up, transforming from his "Aboveground" garb (jeans and a button-down shirt) into his full Goblin King regalia as he did so. High boots, tight breeches, dark red velvet shirt, black leather breastplate (with insignia), and wild hair. Sarah remembered this dark red-and-black ensemble from their old encounter in the Escher room.

"The name of my face is 'fae,'" he said proudly. "I rule the Kingdom of the Goblins. After our wedding, Sarah will rule it alongside me." He bent forward suddenly and snatched the crystal from Robert's suddenly nerveless fingers. He began to spin it, rolling it back and forth over his gloved hands.

Robert's jaw fell open as he watched, mesmerized.

"So you sneaked a glance at Toby's crystal, did you?" the Goblin King mused, not taking his steely eyes from Robert. He rolled the crystal without looking at it. "And it showed you what happened with the three of us, twelve years ago?"

Robert nodded, a quick jerk of the head.

Jareth produced a second crystal from thin air and began rolling them both together. "Then it would seem as if you know the whole story already. Why do you need us here?"

Robert tore his gaze away from the sparkling, hypnotic crystals. "How can this be real?" he asked. "How can I be expected to believe all this? That Sarah wished Toby away…" he paused a moment, and then admitted, "Actually, that's the part I do believe."

"Dad!" Sarah protested.

"Oh, leave it out, Sarah," Toby told her, patting her arm. "It took Jareth to show you my true value. We all know you didn't like me back then," he teased.

She cuffed him. "Back then? I don't always like you now!" Toby cuffed her back. She squawked and tickled him. He kicked her with the side of his boot.

"That's enough, you two," Robert ordered, falling into parental-mode.

"Okay, Dad." "All right, Dad," they chorused.

The serious, magical mood was broken, and for just an instant Robert and the king shared a look of perfect, mutual understanding. _**Kids!**_

"All right, Jareth, you can sit down," Robert invited. "Hope I don't have to call you 'Your Highness' or anything."

Jareth changed back into his jeans and short hair as he sat down. He waved his hand over his face and his eye-streaks disappeared. He shook his head, smiling.

"For a king, it would be 'Your Majesty,' actually," Toby supplied. "'Highness' is just for princes and princesses."

"And how do you know that?" his father asked.

"Hoggle told me, since Sarah's a princess now."

"A princess who shall be a queen in five weeks," Jareth clarified.

Robert frowned. "Sarah, Toby—would you excuse us? I'd like to talk to Jareth alone."

Jareth rose along with them. Robert noted this approvingly: at least this fairy had the good manners not to stay seated when the lady stood up. He saw the fond look the man gave Sarah, and more than that, he saw the soft light in Sarah's eyes as she brushed a quick kiss to Jareth's mouth. Robert's daughter was obviously head-over-heels for this fellow, whoever he was.

"We'll be upstairs, then," Sarah said.

The two men, left alone in the living room, sat back down. "Can I get you a drink?" Robert asked, belatedly remembering his duties as host.

"I'd love some of that wine on the sideboard," Jareth requested.

"What wine on the—?"

Jareth smirked and pointed. "Brought it along as a gift," he said.

Robert shrugged and went to open it.

"Care for a snack along with it?" Jareth asked politely as Robert turned to offer him his glass. He set down the two crystals on the coffee table, and they suddenly turned into several plates of h'ors-deuvres, mostly fruits and various kinds of cheeses.

"Uh…thanks." Robert sat down cautiously. "I thought I was the host here. Where the hell did all this come from?"

Jareth shrugged, popping a grape in his mouth. "We've sprung so many surprises on you already, I figured what's one more?"

"So you really are some kind of king in fairyland?" Robert opened the conversation.

Upstairs, Sarah and Toby crouched together, their ears pressed to the crack in the door.

"I am. And just to save us some time, I shall take a moment to acquaint you with my world so as not to have to go through everything twice." Jareth ticked things off on his fingers as he said them. "One: the Underground is the land of your fairytales, yes. Two: There are many, many species who live there. Three: though most of them are self-governing, the goblins are not. The unicorns are in charge of everything." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you with me so far?"

Robert nodded, rapt.

Jareth went on. "As you know, twelve years ago, Sarah wished her little brother away to me. I did as she asked ,only to discover it wasn't what she had wanted after all. I allowed her the chance to win him back by running my maze. The short story is that she piqued my interest by succeeding."

"And what's the long story?" Robert asked shrewdly.

"The long story," Jareth replied with a smirk, "is actually none of your business."

To the great relief of the eavesdroppers upstairs, Robert laughed.

"I suppose not," he agreed. "After all, I already know the ending, don't I?"

Jareth's smirk grew, and he raised his glass to his host. "The wedding is in five weeks," was all he said.

"All right," Robert said. "I still think this is a dream that I'll wake up from any minute… but in case I don't, let me congratulate you."

"Thank you."

"Robert."

"Thank you, Robert. If it will help any, Sarah and I had come up with an alternate story to tell you about it all—just on the off-chance that you hadn't looked into the crystal when you did. If you like, we'll tell it to you so that you'll have something to tell your friends. Needless to say, we'd prefer to keep you out of the mental institutions, and it will be much easier to do that if you don't tell your friends the whole truth."

"Big of you," Robert said in a dry voice. "All right, let's call those two rascals back down."

"Unnecessary," Jareth informed him blithely, "as they've been listening the whole time through the crack in the door.

The rest of the visit was taken up with talk of the Dwarf-King's wedding, which Toby was heartsick at not being able to attend. "Dwarves? Real dwarves, like Hoggle? And _unicorns_? Come on, you guys have to let me visit again so I can see a real unicorn!"

"It is not outside the realm of possibility," Jareth assured him.

"Would… ah, would I ever be able to visit you there?" Robert asked his daughter, somewhat shyly. "Or do you have to be a child to go there?"

"I'm not a child, Dad," Toby protested.

"Yes you are," Jareth teased. "Compared to me, you're all children."

"But can he visit?" Sarah asked eagerly.

Jareth nodded. "No reason why not, especially after we have a child. By then, you should have enough magic to manipulate the veil between the worlds on your own."

"A _child_?" Robert choked on his wine. "Ye Gods and little fishes, I'm not old enough to have a grandchild!"

Toby said, "Sure you are, Dad, but I'm not sure I'm old enough to be an uncle!"

"Well, as Queen Alia will tell anyone who listens, I'm plenty old enough to need an heir," Jareth joked. "But don't worry. Humans don't tend to age much in the Underground; if you visit often, you'll retain some of your youth even Aboveground."

Toby tapped him on the shoulder, looking worried. "If I visit a lot, I'm not going to be stuck forever as a teenager, am I?"

Jareth laughed. "To be thirteen forever? No, Toby. No God would be that cruel!"


	60. A Fitting Punishment

Chapter 60: A Fitting Punishment

After breaking the news to her family, Sarah then had the distinct pleasure of breaking it to her roommate that night. She and Jareth were sitting on the couch in her apartment, talking quietly and exchanging kisses, when Paris burst in, obviously the worse for drink.

"Hey, Sarah—_WHOA_!" she exclaimed, catching sight of Jareth. "You've actually got a guy here, in our apartment?"

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "And we were enjoying ourselves until just a moment ago. Be a good girl and head yourself back out again, why don't you?"

Paris' jaw dropped. "Asshole! Where do you get off talkin' to me like that?"

Jareth snapped his fingers, completely dismissing Paris. "Sarah, I've just had a wonderful idea."

"Oh?"

He turned to Paris. "Paris, tell me: what are you going to do for a roommate next year, with Sarah having graduated?"

Paris frowned. "I dunno. I haven't thought that far ahead."

Jareth's voice was dry. "Obviously."

"I guess I'll have to start looking for a new one. Why?" Her manner switched to flirtatious and she smiled at him. "Why do you ask, Jared? Are you offering?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Me? Oh, no. I'm going to be getting married in a few weeks. But I know someone who is going to be attending here next fall, and she is looking for a roommate as well. Something tells me the two of you would get along famously."

"You're getting _married_?"

He nodded, looking smug.

"Then what the hell are you doing sucking face with Sarah on the couch?" Paris demanded.

He smirked. "Sarah is who I'm marrying. Now, about the roommate…"

He got no further than that, as they had to stop and deal with Paris' shock and outrage at the thought that her boring, studious, and _old_ roommate had landed the hottest guy she'd ever seen. Sarah said nothing, just sat back and let Jareth do the talking. He didn't let her down; he stepped into his Goblin King identity and gave Paris such a dressing-down that Sarah was sure the girl would remember for a long time to come!

"Now… about the roommate," he continued, back in hisJareth personality as if nothing had happened. "She'll be coming here from a rather protected home setting. She is going to need someone like you to teach her all about university life. She is quite young and impressionable, and naturally her well-being means a great deal to her mother—and to me as well."

Paris gave him an evil grin, obviously planning the corruption of the girl. Then she stopped and frowned. "Wait a minute--you've got a daughter?" Paris gaped. He didn't look that old!

He laughed. "Oh, no. She's not my daughter; she's the daughter of a friend of mine. I just happen to be her guardian at the moment."

Up until this point, Sarah hadn't any idea who he meant. She assumed there was someone else living under his protection, whom she hadn't met yet. She leaned over to him and asked, "Anyone I know?"

He smirked. "Terrillia."

All Sarah could think was that well, he was right about one thing: with Terrillia languishing in the Goblin King's dungeon, he certainly _was_ her guardian!

_A/N: So what do you all think? An appropriate punishment or what?_


	61. The Details of a Punishment

Chapter 61: The Details of a Punishment

It was a measure of how much Sarah had learned in the last few weeks, that she gave no reaction to Jareth's idea. Bev and Jareth both had taught her that when she was a queen, she should never show surprise at anything. "A poker face is best, but if you can't manage that then you must still control your reactions," Bev had told her.

Sarah now found Bevelyn's advice to be invaluable. She allowed herself to show mild surprise, and then nodded. "Yes, I think this might be a good place for Terrillia," she said calmly. "I don't think she's been very happy at your place lately."

This time it was Jareth's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh?" was all he said.

"Yes," Sarah continued, still straight-faced. "She doesn't speak to you anymore, and she never comes out of her room. I think it might be time to start allowing her some more freedom, Jareth."

Since Terrillia was still locked in the dungeon beneath Jareth's castle, and he had put a spell of silence on her, Sarah's description of the case was disturbingly accurate.

"That is true," he said with his lips pursed thoughtfully. "How about it, Paris? Shall we send my young ward to you, next fall when classes start?"

Paris shrugged. "Sure. If she doesn't get along with you two, then she'd probably fit in just fine around here! You're both kinda bitchy to be around." She grinned unashamedly at him.

"Well, then, it's settled," Jareth said, ignoring her last remark as if she hadn't even made it. "Now if you'll excuse us, Sarah and I have some arrangements to make and a wedding to plan."

xxxXXXxxx

Back at his castle, he summoned Bevelyn and told her his plan. Not surprisingly, she agreed willingly. "You promise me that this Paris woman will make her life miserable?" she pressed.

"I am pretty sure she will," Sarah reassured her. "And even if they end up getting along and Terrillia becomes just like her, it will still be a punishment for Terrillia. Paris is one of the unhappiest people I know; she just doesn't realize it yet."

"Then I have no objection."

"She will be stripped of her magic of course, and she will have her tuition bills paid. Her other expenses she will have to pay herself, by working at a job and earning the money for them."

Bev burst out laughing. "She'll have to _work_? Jareth, that sounds wonderful! She'll hate it beyond belief, but it might be the only way to 'unspoil' her."

"That's the idea," Sarah laughed. "We'll summon her before us after her graduation and see what she's learned from her experiences… and we'll go from there."

Bev smiled and curtseyed to the both of them. "Your Majesties are very gracious and merciful," she said gratefully.

Sarah giggled. "I'm not a 'majesty' yet, Bev. Don't start with all that before you have to!"

"For my part, though, I accept the compliment," Jareth said.

"You would!" Sarah laughed, as Bev bade them both goodbye and headed back to her home.

Jareth raised his eyebrows. "That went well," he said happily.

"Oh, you're so full of yourself," Sarah teased him. "Shut up and kiss me."

"Gladly." And he did.

_A/N: Sorry it's only one chapter updated this time. More tomorrow, I think -- I'm wrestling with a li'l bit of writer's block, but I hope to become unstuck by tomorrow. Keep on R & R'ing if you please; I love to read your ideas for the story even if I don't end up incorporating them._


	62. Graduation

Chapter 62: Graduation

The last days of the semester flew by, with Sarah finishing up the last of her school projects and packing up her things. By the morning of graduation, she had completely moved out of her apartment and brought some of her things to her father's house and some of them to Underground.

Graduation itself was interminable to Sarah. She didn't know many students in her class, and the speaker was stultifying. She took off her necklace and amused herself by surreptitiously watching various scenarios in the crystal necklace. She whispered, "Show me Jareth," and the crystal darkened for an instant before showing her the harried Goblin King pacing around his study barking orders at Sir Didymus. She smiled to herself.

Sarah had done well in her final year. Not valedictorian or anything, but she'd made a respectable showing. The woman in front of her was so nervous that she went too far across the platform and tried to go down the wrong set of steps, and Sarah smiled. A month ago, she would have been just as nervous, but graduation now seemed small potatoes after an Underground royal wedding. Sarah gave the woman an understanding smile as her own name was called, and she strode proudly across the platform shaking hands. Then, instead of returning to her seat to wait for the names to end, she just kept walking out the back of the stadium.

Her father and Toby were there, waiting for her. "Okay, let's roll," Robert said. "If we leave now we can beat the crowds. Is Jareth coming up to join us for your graduation lunch?"

Sarah was secretly amused by her father's directions. He had very neatly categorized the Underground as "down," and their own world as "up." He referred to Jareth's visits as coming "up" to see her. She had wondered why he'd taken the news of her upcoming marriage--and her bridegroom!--with such equanimity, until Jareth confessed that he'd put a calming spell into the wine and h'ors-deuvres that he'd created for Robert during their last visit.

"Yes, I think so. Where are we going?"

"Dunno; what do you feel like? Steak? Seafood?"

"Probably not lobster," Sarah qualified with a secret smile. "I'm good with anything else."

Jareth met them at the steak house, emerging from the gents' washroom as if he'd been there all along waiting for them. They had requested a private table in a corner, and the conversation over the meal flew fast and furious. By the end of the meal, Robert was smiling and affable (of course, the wine he'd drunk had _nothing_ to do with his genial mood) and extremely eager to go visit the Underground for himself.

Toby was eager to visit as well, and Jareth—after some cajoling—agreed to let them come to the wedding… and have an extended visit at some point shortly after that. He winked at Sarah as he told them about the intricate Underground etiquette and history lessons that he would have to give them. His delivery was deadpan, however, and Sarah—remembering the debilitating shock of her own lesson crystal—had to cough into her napkin to hide her laughter.

She couldn't wait to see the reactions of her father and brother to their own "educational crystals."

_A/N: Eariwen,this was the chapter I told you about. Hope you liked it._


	63. A Necessary Evil

Chapter 63: A Necessary Evil

One thing that Sarah had been putting off, and finally had to steel herself to do, was her first visit to the gynecologist. She filled out the paperwork, blushing red at some of the questions, and under "reason for visit," she wrote, "Marriage in 2 weeks."

The doctor came in and read her sheet, offering her an absent-minded, "Congratulations." She followed by asking Sarah aloud all of the questions that Sarah had already answered on the sheet. "Are you sexually active?" she asked.

"No."

"Ever been?"

"No."

The doctor peered at Sarah over her severe-looking glasses. "You _do_ know what that means, don't you?"

Frowning, Sarah nodded.

The doctor scoffed. "Are you sure, at the mature age of twenty-seven, that you've never had sex?"

Sarah lost it. Tired of spending the last year defending her sexual choices to Paris, and tired of people's assumptions about her because of her looks, she took a deep breath. "Contrary to what you might believe," she said, grating the words out from between her teeth, "Not all virgins spend their time hanging out in forests with unicorns. Some of us go to college and have lives of our own, and when we actually show some responsibility in our sexual choices, we shouldn't have to defend them to other people – least of all, not a doctor!"

The doctor's eyebrows shot up. "Oh...kay, then," she said smoothly. "Sorry about that; you're just a rarity, that's all. I didn't mean to imply that you hung out with unicorns or anything."

"Only on weekends," Sarah told her, deadpan. Well, so far, it was the truth.

The doctor laughed and continued with the examination.

In a somewhat warmer tone of voice, she explained what she was going to do and why, and then she did it. Sarah suffered through the indignity and pain of the procedure, and concluded afterwards that it had been worth it: she was perfectly healthy, and the doctor foresaw no problems with the consummation of her upcoming marriage.

Sarah didn't know what to say, though, when the doctor asked if she had someone else, a woman, that she could talk to if she had questions later on. Then, smiling, she thought of Bev, who had stepped very neatly into the role of Sarah's mother-figure. "Yes, I do," she assured the doctor.

"Glad to hear it. Well, you're all set, Sarah. You should have no problems. Now you have a nice wedding, mind you, and congratulations!" The doctor winked. "And enjoy the wedding night, too."

Sarah blushed. "I'm somehow sure that I will," she said. "You've never seen anyone quite like my fiancé, anywhere in this world!"

_A/N: I know, I know... but someone as responsible as Sarah is in this story surely wouldn't leave out such an important detail as a trip to the doc, now would she? The funny thing is, some of this is almost word-for-word dialogue taken from my own first trip to the gyno. Just had to stick it in here, seeing as how Sarah really did hang out with unicorns on the weekends._


	64. Sink or Swim

Chapter 64: Sink or Swim

Before the next week was up, Sarah was officially living Underground. The Goblin King had resumed his lessons—

"_And why on earth can't you just put all this stuff into another lesson crystal for me?" Sarah complained one evening with her brain on overload._

"_Because, my darling Sarah, it is necessary for you to learn these things the 'real' way this time. This isn't just social etiquette for a wedding this time—this is preparing you for your rule as queen. It makes a difference, both mentally and magically."_

—and Sarah was slowly going insane.

She started sitting in with Jareth—with the Goblin King, rather—on his "open court" days. This is when goblins with complaints could come before him and express them. The first part of the day she simply watched while the king dealt with his subjects efficiently, if somewhat ruthlessly, and then when they broke for lunch, the king winked at her and told her she was going to handle the afternoon cases.

"Wha…? Me? What about you? Aren't you going to be there?"

He shook his head with an evil smirk. "I have business elsewhere. It's sink or swim for you, Sarah. Do have fun, won't you?" And he quickly spun a crystal and was gone.

Sarah groaned. "Ohhhh!" She stiffened her spine and turned back toward the throne room. "I cannot WAIT until I have my own royal persona, and can give him a taste of his own medicine!" she muttered as she faced the raucous throng of goblins waiting for her.

That evening, Sarah fell asleep at the dinner table in the middle of telling Jareth about her afternoon. With an amused and sympathetic smile, he summoned Lorikar to come and accompany Sarah to bed. He hadn't anticipated the scolding he'd receive.

"I say, King Jareth, you should have known better!" she told him, shaking her head at the sight of the sleeping Sarah. "Putting the poor lady in charge of Court Day, and her without even any magic yet, or even a public face! Shame on you!"

Jareth frowned. "Do watch your mouth, Lorikar," he warned. "I'd hate to have to send you back to Daxon before you've even been here a year."

Swallowing the rest of her scolding, she curtseyed. "My apologies, Your Majesty."

"Fine. Mind you take good care of my lady, here."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Lorikar bobbed her head several times and placed her hands on Sarah's shoulders. Jareth tossed over a crystal and the two women disappeared.

Had he rushed Sarah too much? He didn't think so. He'd watched her in a crystal for at least part of the time that she had sat in court, and she seemed to do quite well. She was too lenient on them of course, but had done no permanent harm. The truth was, he wanted to see how she did at ruling now, as just "Sarah," before she developed a public face and personality as Goblin Queen. She had done very well for her first time.

It was obvious, however, that today had been extremely hard for her, and tired her out. He'd been planning to take her out for a ride before breakfast, but he changed his mind and decided to let her sleep late.


	65. Messy Mornings

_A/N: Only one chapter update this time, but at least it's a nice long one. Long for me, anyway. And kudos to Elfwood, who was the only person to guess the actual, tangible connection between "Labyrinth" and "The Wizard of Oz," which was that Sarah had a copy of that book in her bedroom. Bravo, Elfwood._

Chapter 65: Messy Mornings

Sarah woke up panicking. Why hadn't Lorikar wakened her yet? The sun streamed in brightly through her window and she sat up abruptly. Oh, no. She was late for breakfast. She zipped through her morning ablutions, not even answering the bathtub's cheerful chatter, and threw on her clothes to dash down to the breakfast table.

She got as far as the door which she threw open just in time to collide with Lorikar carrying a breakfast tray. _Crash! _The little maid went flying, along with all the dishes and food on the tray. Sarah grabbed the door frame to keep from falling.

"Oh, no! Lorikar, are you all right?"

The little dwarf rolled to her feet and groaned. She got up and looked with dismay at the mess around her. "Oh, I'm sorry Lady Sarah! I'll clean this up right away."

"Well, well, well, Sarah," Jareth's mocking voice appeared before he did. He shimmered into view, leaning against the opposite wall with one foot up on it. "First you fall asleep in your dinner, and then you scatter your breakfast along with your serving-maid. If I didn't know better, I might start to think you just weren't interested in eating at all." He negligently waved a hand, and all of the food, tea, and broken and overturned dishes disappeared. Lorikar gave a big sigh of relief along with her curtsey of thanks to the king.

Sarah glared at him. "I'm starving! It's not my fault you worked me so hard I fell asleep over dinner."

He laughed, and came forward and offered her his arm. "What? You can't handle a few measly goblins arguing over the beer kegs without getting all worn out?" he teased as he started down towards the dining room.

"Neither can you, or else you wouldn't have pawned the job off on me," Sarah pointed out sharply.

"Ah, you've discovered my secret," he said lightly, pushing open the dining room doors.

As they sat down to breakfast, Sarah asked, "So what evils have you in store for me today? Be warned that if you tell me I have to sit in for Court Day again, I may very well throw my toast at you."

He grinned. "As tempting as the thought is, no. I have other plans for you today."

"More history lessons?"

He shook his head, smiling.

"More introductions to some more of your political allies and enemies?"

"No."

"Hobnobbing with the High Muck-a-mucks of the Underground?"

"I wonder how they'd feel about such a soubriquet? No. We're going for a ride."

"A ride?"

He nodded.

"On horses?"

"Even so. I went down to visit the stables after you… ah… fell facefirst into your rice last night. Janna tells me she misses me, and that Dover has been asking for the nice-smelling girl who called him a 'sweetie' and embraced him."

Sarah laughed, charmed. "No lessons today? No hobnobbing? No trying to remember the names of every single noble in the Underground AND all their ancestors for the past several millennia? Just a horse ride?"

"Just a horse ride. Possibly with lunch, if the fancy takes us. You've been working much too hard lately, Sarah—your cheeks aren't as rosy as when you came to me, and the glow of your carefree spirit has diminished somewhat." His face softened in mocking concern.

This time she really did throw her toast at him, letting out a little shriek of exasperation as she did so. "You're the one who's been making me do all that work! You're the one who told me how important it was that I know all that stuff! You're the one who—"

He interrupted her with a kiss. She struggled at first, trying to hold on to her outrage, but soon gave in and returned it with a will. When they parted, she gave him a mock-glare. "Don't think that trick is going to work every time, to shut me up," she warned.

"No, no, no, of course not!" he protested, sounding for all the world like one of his own false alarms. "Be aware, though, that you may use it on me as well, whenever necessary. In fact, had you done so that time before graduation, I might not have become so pig-headed."

Sarah laughed, her rancor completely dissipated. "So that's how I can manage you, is it? Just kiss you into submission?"

"You're certainly welcome to try it," he suggested with a grin. "But now, you should probably finish your breakfast so we can get going." He gazed ruefully down at his shirt, where the toast had made a butter-stain on it.

"Oh, now, that wasn't my fault. You drove me to that!" Sarah teased. "I'm not paying your dry-cleaning bill."

"No matter," he said airily, waving a hand and vanishing the spot. "I'm an inventive sort of man. I feel certain I'll find some other way to pay you back."

The ride was wonderful, just what Sarah needed after all that time cooped up in Jareth's study. The sun was warm, the air was fresh, and Sarah decided it was a wonderful time to ask him her last few questions.

"So when I'm queen, will I have to help you steal babies?" she asked him suddenly as their horses picked their way across a shallow stream.

Jareth coughed. "I don't steal babies. I relieve people of their unwanted burdens that they've wished away to me." They were treading on thin ice here and he knew it.

Sarah grinned, hearing the discomfort in his voice. "Yeah, whatever you call it. Will I have to help you?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. The bulk of the responsibility will fall to me, simply because I'm used to it… but if there is ever a time when someone is wished away at the same time as someone else… why, then, you would have to answer one and I, the other."

"And I'll give them the chance to run the labyrinth to get the child back, but try to talk them out of it first? Like you did to me?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause, while Jareth steeled himself for Sarah's cries of outrage. Instead, she shrugged. "I guess I can do that."

He looked at her in surprise.

"What? You thought I'd make a big fuss about it? Believe me, I'm not nearly so concerned about it, now that I know you adopt them out instead of turning them into goblins." Sarah thought of something else, and grinned. "Will I get to help you confuse them, too? Intimidate them, scare them, lead them around in circles?"

"If you like."

"Randomly pop in on them in the middle of the labyrinth, just to make them jump, and mock them when they tell me it isn't fair?"

Jareth laughed. He reined in his horse and slid to the ground. Sarah grinned at him and reined in Dover, throwing a leg over to slide down into Jareth's arms.

"Sarah, you are a wonderful, delightful woman," he informed her. "If I didn't know any better, I might be afraid at how eager you sound for all this!"

Sarah shrugged, and kissed him quickly. "Well… you looked like you were having so much fun when it was me," she teased. "We might have to do that again sometime, you know… only you'll be the one running the maze, and I'll be the one trying to confuse you. You said I'll have some magic after we marry, so I should be able to do that. Right?"

He nodded. "You'll be able to manipulate the maze right away; you'll need to, as part of your duties as queen. External magic – the kind outside the labyrinth and the Goblin Kingdom—might take longer to develop."

"And will you teach me how to use it?"

"Of course, if you need me to. Some of the knowledge is innate. And of course," he said, bending to drag his lips up her neck to her ear, "You already know that I've found you enchanting for years."

"Yes, you pervert. What kind of man falls in love with a fifteen-year-old?" Sarah gasped at the sensations he was eliciting, and pressed her lips to his jaw.

"Oh, I didn't fall in love with you then. I merely suspected I was going to, once you grew up. There's a difference," he clarified, tightening his arms around her.

"Just as I thought: you're still a perv," Sarah teased. His teeth closed over her ear, and she gasped and dug her fingers into his side.

He jumped.

Sarah blinked. She did it again.

He jumped, and actually let out a very unkingly-sounding squeak.

"Oh… you're _ticklish?"_

"Why don't I like the tone of that question?"

She had him on the ground before he knew it, and at her mercy… until he decided to return the favor. She jumped.

"Ohhhh, so you're ticklish too, hmm?" he smirked.

It all went downhill from there, and the horses shook their heads and rolled their eyes at each other as they stood companionably under a tree, eating grass together. They could communicate well enough to share a single disdainful thought: **_Bipeds!_**


	66. Graduation Gift

Chapter 66: Graduation Gift

Robert and Toby arrived at the castle the night before the thirteen days of celebrations were scheduled to begin. Unfortunately, Sarah didn't have much time to spend with them (and apologized profusely for it) but they were quite happy to be shown around by Sir Didymus, Ludo, and Hoggle. Bevelyn also came to stay at the Castle that night, to keep Sarah company (and to help keep her calm; she was so nervous her stomach hurt), and she chatted quite happily with Sarah's father and brother.

After dinner that night, Jareth invited them all into his study, where he threw himself sideways into a chair and began spinning a couple of crystals. He didn't talk much; Sarah, Robert, and Bev made themselves comfortable and carried the conversation while Toby stared entranced at the model of the labyrinth.

At some point, Robert asked, "So, can anyone tell me and Toby how to behave at a royal wedding in fairyland? We're gonna look like a couple of country bumpkins, here."

"Yeah, and is it going to be all grownups there?" Toby wanted to know.

That was all the opening Jareth needed. With a wink at Sarah and a warning glance at Bev, he suddenly sat up and hurled one crystal at each male. "Catch!"

Toby gasped and almost went down, his white-knuckled grip on the edge of the model the only thing that kept him upright while Robert collapsed silently onto Bev's shoulder.

Toby recovered first, swaying a little and then shaking his head to clear it. "Whoa, Jareth, warn a guy next time, huh?"

xxxXXXxxx

Before they all separated for the night, Robert drew Sarah aside and handed her a flat parcel wrapped in brown paper. "It's kind of a late graduation present," he told her. "I know your head's kind of being turned with all this royal wedding folderol—and I'm really happy for you about that, sweetie—but I didn't want your graduation to be overshadowed by it. I know you worked really hard for that degree, and I want you to know how proud I am of you."

Sarah smiled shyly at her father and then opened the parcel. Inside, carefully framed inside a beautiful silver filigreed frame, was her degree. Awarded to Sarah Renee Williams, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She gasped. "Dad! It's gorgeous! Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around him. "I know exactly where I'll hang it, too." She grinned at the thought.


	67. Pranks

Chapter 67: Pranks

The next morning was the first day of the celebrations. Sarah smiled as she introduced her father to the other members of the nobility and watched him bow exactly the right way, say just the right things, and generally behave as if he had been born and grown up in the Underground. For teaching court manners in a hurry, Jareth's lesson crystals certainly did the trick.

Toby did very well too, though there was always a hint of mischief hiding beneath his court manners. To Sarah's surprise, Toby hit it off very well with the young unicorn princess, Arien. As Sarah stood talking to Alia in the garden, they were interrupted by the princess and Toby galloping through, a little too close to them. Toby couldn't possibly keep up, but he was trying his level best; it was obvious Arien was just teasing him. She'd let him get close, and then take off with another burst of speed and pelt him with clods of dirt from her hooves. "Hey! This was a clean shirt!" Toby yelled at her, hardly able to get the words out through his breathless laughter.

Peals of silvery unicorn laughter sounded in their heads as Arien disappeared from view.

Alia tossed her head to show amusement. _"Teenagers! They're all alike, no matter what species they are_," she commented.

Sarah laughed. "Teenagers? Isn't Arien hundreds of years old?"

Alia nodded. "_Yes, but for a unicorn, it takes longer than that to reach adulthood."_

Just then, Toby ran back towards them, being chased by a floating crystal the size of a basketball. "Help me, Sarah!" he cried, still laughing. "He's going to—"

It was too late. The crystal floated over his head, burst, and soaked him with water. Jareth came sauntering up behind Toby, smirking as he watched water drip from the boy's blond eyebrows. "I trust that will teach you not to interrupt my meeting, young man?"

"Sorry about that; I didn't know you were meeting in the garden today." Toby said, wiping his face. "But what about Arien? She jumped first!" He grinned, a little embarrassed.

Jareth said nothing, merely turned around and waited. Sure enough, Arien came trotting back into the clearing, followed by another giant crystal. She didn't know about it, however, and when she stopped short at the sight of her mother, the crystal floated up over her head—and then down so it was pierced by her horn. She was drenched. Startled, she shook her head, snorting.

Jareth's smirk turned into a broad grin. "Next time, look before you leap over the wall, my young friends," he said. He bowed briefly to Alia, leaned in and gave Sarah a kiss, and then sauntered back to his outdoor meeting.

Sarah shook her head, smiling. Picking up their conversation from where it left off, she said, "If it takes hundreds of years for unicorns to mature, how long does it take for fae?"

"_Oh, much longer_," Alia told her, deadpan. "_Especially the males_." Sarah snickered.


	68. The Sentence

Chapter 68: The Sentence

The thirteen days of celebrations flew by. Sarah was too busy to be nervous. In many ways it was like the Dwarf-king's wedding festivities: mornings were taken up with unofficial "lessons" with Bev – although Alia had joined the small group as well, to give her perspective and to get to know Sarah better—and afternoons were taken up by sitting in on Jareth's meetings. The early part of the evenings, Sarah spent with her family and Jareth, quietly by themselves. She had been away at college for so long, and then all of this Underground stuff had happened so suddenly, that she wanted the time to re-connect with them, and for them to get to know Jareth. After dinner, the dancing (and hobnobbing, Sarah thought, rolling her eyes) began, and she began to create a more formal demeanor for these times—it was just easier, when dealing with the "public faces" of the other monarchs and nobles, to come up with one of her own. Otherwise, she felt hopelessly intimidated! Jareth told her that she would develop one during their wedding, and she couldn't wait!

The night before the wedding, when Alia called the names of the other monarchs, no one else spoke up. So Jareth and Sarah reaffirmed their intent to wed on the following day, and that was that. There were no kidnappings this time, and if any of the other women were overcome with jealousy for Sarah, they had the good sense to hide it after Terrillia showed up.

For Terrillia made an appearance at the festivities the night before the wedding. Still spelled into complete silence, tied up and accompanied by four dwarf guards bristling with weapons, she was escorted to a special chair at the bottom of the room near the kitchen. There was one last thing Jareth had to do before he got married.

The crowd hushed as the dwarves brought her in. King Daxon and Queen Claro stood next to Jareth and Sarah, to lend their support. They were flanked by both unicorns and Terrillia's mother, Bev.

"Terrillia _rin_ Bevelyn," Jareth addressed her in a ringing voice, using the name of her noble mother as opposed to her commoner father. "We have called you before us today so that we may pass judgment on your behavior toward my betrothed." He indicated Sarah, who stood tall and proud by his side.

Terrillia winced, her face showing her fear for just an instant before she regained her control and became impassive. She nodded once to Jareth and waited.

"You shall be exiled to the world Above, to live among the humans for at least four years," he informed her.

Her jaw dropped.

"You shall have to earn a living and make your way among them as you also work toward your education," Jareth went on. "You are going to attend an institution of higher learning—the same one Lady Sarah attended, in fact—and you shall study there as a common student." The he delivered the parting blow. "You shall be stripped of your magic as of now, and we shall make arrangements for your seamless entry into Aboveground society tomorrow." He smiled faintly and gave her the final twist of the knife. "At the same time that I am being united with my new queen, you'll be united with the human world Above. Your losing your magic will provide that much more of it for my bride to receive, when we are wed tomorrow."

Terrillia blanched. Magic was a tremendous part of a fae's natural makeup! How would she get by without it? Especially among the humans, whom she disdained.

Watching her, Bevelyn spoke up. "You won't die of it, T'rill. Humans get by quite well without any magic for their whole lives; and anyway, look at the bright side! If you return, you'll be a better person for having learned to do things for yourself."

Terrillia caught the "if" in her mother's statement and looked frightened again. She looked pleadingly at Jareth. Was he going to banish her forever?

Sarah touched his hand to restrain him from speaking, and stepped forward. "Considering that I was the injured party, and that by this time tomorrow I shall be the Goblin Queen, does anyone object if I speak with the queen's voice now?"

No one objected. Sarah took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "University life is a learning experience, Terillia. It is our hope that you will see it as such, and learn from your interactions with humans—_as_ a human—just as much as you will learn from your classes. Upon graduation, we will summon you to stand before us again, and we will see what you have learned. Our decision of whether or not to accept you back among us will depend upon that meeting. For what it's worth, and for your sake, I hope you find it within yourself to learn from your exile, and maybe even to enjoy it. Good luck."

Jareth nodded to the guards and they made Terrillia stand up. He took Bevelyn's hand with one of his, and placed the other on Alia's neck. The three of them closed their eyes, concentrating.

The atmosphere in the room changed subtly, strengthened somehow, and Sarah could tell the exact moment that Terrillia's magic was stripped from her. The fae woman paled and staggered, but managed to keep her feet as the dwarves led her out.

There was a moment of silence, and then Alia stamped a forehoof and gestured for the musicians to start playing again. Jareth bowed to his betrothed and held out his hand, pulling her out onto the floor. Slowly, other couples joined them, including the dwarf monarchs.


	69. Goblin King Goblin King, Make me a Match

Chapter 69: Goblin King, Goblin King, Make me a Match

Halfway through the dance, someone tapped Jareth's shoulder. "Excuse me, Your Majesty, but may I cut in?" Robert Williams stood there, grinning.

The Goblin King hesitated a long moment, and then gave in with a good grace. Sarah flashed him a beaming smile over her father's shoulder, and Jareth nodded to her and went to claim Bevelyn for the remainder of the dance.

When it finished, he escorted her back over to where Sarah and her father now stood on the sidelines, and introduced them just as if they hadn't all been lounging around in his study the week before. "Robert, please allow me to present Bevelyn, a fae noblewoman and a good friend of Sarah's and mine. Bev is an excellent dancer," he hinted strongly.

Robert grinned and took the hint. "Lovely to meet you, Bevelyn; may I have the next dance?" They went off together, both still chuckling.

Sarah sidled up to her fiancé and took his arm. "What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged. "If he is so badly in need of a partner that he must needs steal mine in the middle of a dance – well, I merely provided him with his own, so he'll leave mine alone."

Sarah pursed her lips, looking sceptical.

Innocently, he continued, "Your father is not currently married, is he?"

She shook her head. "No. Both my mother and Toby's mother cheated on him, so he's said he'll never marry again."

Jareth smirked, watching the couple dance. They were talking easily and laughing together, and looked to be having a fine time. "I wonder if he would ever change his mind, if the woman were incapable of cheating?" He caught Sarah's shocked expression and cocked his head. "Bev has been alone for a hundred years or so, now. She might be starting to get lonely."

"You know, that kingly persona of yours is such a façade," Sarah teased him. "Underneath it all, you're really a softie!"

He tipped his head back at a haughty angle and gazed down at her. "Oh, that we were alone, and I could demonstrate just how wrong you are!" he exclaimed. "I assure you, by this time tomorrow night, I'll be showing you no mercy."

Sarah licked her lips. "What makes you think I'll be asking for any?"

_A/N: In the words of a famous hat we all know, "Woo, woo, **woo**!"_


	70. Nerves and Nuptials

Chapter 70: Nerves and Nuptials

The morning of the wedding found Sarah pacing nervously, waiting for Lorikar to show up with her breakfast tray. Ordinarily it was the dwarf's job to wake Sarah as well, but this time she had been too nervous to sleep very deeply.

The little dwarf maid seemed unsurprised to see Sarah up and awake. "I've brought you some tea this morning, my lady," she said. "It's very good for calming one's nerves… if one should happen to be nervous, that is," she added hastily.

Sarah laughed. "I'll take it, with thanks, then."

Her wedding-dress was lovely. "How did he do it?" Sarah marveled quietlyas she held up the skirt to examine the intricate golden embroidery against the white. It was the pattern of his pendant, sewn right into the fabric of the gown with the design repeating itself over and over.

"How did he do what, my lady?" Lorikar asked.

Sarahrecovered her poise and covered her lapse. "How did he manage to _just once_, find a gown to which I can't object?"

Lorikar giggled as she helped Sarah dress. "I think King Jareth has a sense of occasion sometimes," she confided. "It wouldn't have boded well for you to have sent back your wedding-gown!"

Sarah conceded that to be the truth. Lorikar tightened Sarah's corset-laces and fastened up her dress, and then set to work on her hair. She wove flowers into it, white and gold ones that matched the gown and looked quite striking in Sarah's dark hair, and curled it with a simple, muttered incantation.

Sarah looked at herself in the mirror and marveled. She looked powerful and radiant, and she wasn't even a queen yet!

Her father met her at the door to her bedroom. "Oh, Sarah, honey! You look beautiful!" He offered her his arm, to walk her down. "Jareth tells me it's not the done thing here, for a father to escort his daughter, but he's making an exception for us. He made sure I knew it was just this once," he teased. "So the next time you marry a mythical monarch, you'll have to walk down to meet him all by yourself."

"I'll remember," Sarah promised with a smile.

As usual, Jareth was dressed to match her. He wore white trousers tucked into his usual high black boots, a gold waistcoat and a white cape covered with the same gold embroidery as Sarah's dress. His hair was left loose, falling over his shoulders in a platinum cascade, and his head was topped by a golden crown. One side of it was higher than the other, and it sat at a rakish angle on his head. He always had been fond of asymmetry.

"Oh, my," Sarah said softly to herself when she saw him. This was real. She was marrying this man. He was beautiful. She started to tear up a little.

Robert patted her hand where it rested on his forearm. "He's a good guy," he said, "even if he does wear his pants like a fairy."

Sarah chuckled, her tears forgotten. "He says you're not so bad yourself, for a guy with zero imagination."

Robert smiled and lifted up her hand to kiss it. They were almost to the front of the room full of people. "This is it, honey," he said. "Good luck. I'll sure miss you!" He reached the front of the room, where he shook Jareth's hand, tucked Sarah's into it, and then went and sat down next to Toby.

The room was silent as Jareth and Sarah stood together before the High Queen and exchanged their vows. Before all the Underground, they promised to love, honor, and respect each other until they were parted by death.

Sarah had previously taken off the crystal necklace Jareth had given her, and now Jareth stepped forward and placed another one around her neck. This one was a smaller, more delicate copy of his crescent pendant, the symbol of office for the Goblin King. It wasn't the Goblin King who made his vows and bestowed his symbol of office: it was Jareth the man, opening up and revealing his "private face" in front of his guests as he took Sarah into his arms and kissed her with an eagerness that could not be hidden.

Kissing during weddings wasn't usually done in the Underground, and murmurs arose when Jareth broke with custom. He silenced them with a look, leaving them to realize that with a human wife, he was using a human tradition to make her feel at home.

At least, that's what he let them think. Really, though, he just wanted to kiss his new wife. He couldn't help it if her customs made for an excellent excuse.

_A/N: It's official: they're (finally) married! Hurrah!_

_To my reviewer who wondered why Sarah was only getting her Bachelor's Degree at age 27, I explained that earlier on in the story: because of her father's divorce, she had to work for several years to save for college before she was able to start. A lot of people don't start college right out of high school. And 27 years old would be very young for her to be getting her doctorate! She's not superwoman, nor yet a Mary Sue, so I just made her plain, human, and poor (as so many of us are), who completed undergrad at 27._


	71. Long Live the Queen

Chapter 71: Long Live the Queen

Sarah's coronation came next. She knelt before Jareth and Alia, and recited her oath of office. She was determined not to need Arien's assistance this time! It was too important.

"I, Sarah _rin_ Williams, as bride of Jareth, King of the Goblins, do hereby vow to rule my subjects fairly. I will show justice tempered with mercy; I will show compassion tempered with judgment, and I will faithfully fulfill the responsibilities required by my office. I will provide assistance to the king as we rule our kingdom together; and when God so wills it, I will provide him his heirs. I will keep controlled whatever magic comes to me, and whatever I do, I will do for the good of my kingdom."

Alia motioned with her head, and Jareth held up his empty hand. A crown appeared in it, a delicate, shining thing that looked as if it had been made of spun gold threads. Alia touched the crown with her horn, and Jareth placed it gently on Sarah's head. Sarah could hardly feel its presence; it felt faintly as if she were wearing a bubble—she could tell something was there, but it had absolutely no weight. She gave a sigh of relief, glad that her crown was lighter (and prettier) than Queen Claro's had been.

She wondered for a moment why Jareth had been the one to crown her; at Daxon's wedding it had been the king's aide who had crowned the new queen.

Alia answered her briefly inside her mind. "_The crown is bestowed by me; it matters not whose hands deliver it."_ A bit of laughter showed up in Sarah's mind as Alia muttered an aside, _"This is the one circumstance you'll see me regretting my lack of opposable thumbs!"_

Alia touched Sarah's amused face with her horn, and suddenly Sarah felt an inrush of magic. It felt somewhat similar to when Jareth had tossed her lesson crystal at her—new pathways in her mind being forged, a thousand new tidbits of information making their way through her brain and finding new homes. Suddenly she felt different, as though a whole new personality had been poured into her body.

For the first time, the Goblin Queen rose and stood proudly before her people.

Alia announced to the audience, "All hail their Majesties, King Jareth and Queen Sarah!" Silently, every single person in the hall knelt to honor the new queen. Even Alia and Arien bent their heads for just a moment.

Then Alia stood and encouraged everyone to "Greet their Majesties!" and the hall resounded with cheering.

Beaming, Jareth and Sarah stood hand in hand, waiting for the cheering to die down. Unlike Daxon's wedding, where the bride and groom were the first to leave, Jareth and Sarah stayed behind as all the guests filed out and went to their homes. They each knelt and hugged the unicorns, kissing them on both horsey cheeks.

And suddenly Sarah was back to being Sarah. A little nervous about her upcoming consummation, she whispered to the young unicorn. "Arien, if we can't figure out some way to be able to meet, I'm sure going to miss you." A tiny tear rolled down her cheek, and the young unicorn nuzzled her.

"_I agree, Sarah. We have become good friends, have we not?"_ Arien's bell-like voice sounded in her head. The unicorn cocked her head to one side. _"Sarah, take out one of your hairpins."_

Sarah did so, puzzled. She held it out to Arien, mystified.

Arien reached up one slender foreleg and, without warning, drove it against the hairpin. A shining drop of silvery blood welled up.

"Oh, Arien!" Sarah gasped.

"_Touch the blood_," the unicorn directed. "_Put out your finger, and touch first my blood and then my horn." _

Sarah did so, and gasped at the slight puncture that Arien's needle-sharp horn made in her finger. Some of the silvery blood seeped into the puncture on her finger, and she felt decidedly odd for a minute or two. "Arien, what is all this?"

The little unicorn's voice sounded in her head with supreme satisfaction. _"Now there is unicorn blood in your veins, Sarah. You are as my sister."_

The light came on in Sarah's brain. Of course—where had the tradition of blood-brotherhood and sisterhood come from, originally? Probably it had originated in the Underground, centuries ago. Sarah smiled and hugged the unicorn again. "Thank you, Arien."

It was odd, to share blood with a unicorn, but Sarah thought with wry amusement that it certainly wouldn't be the first new thing to happen to her that day!

Speaking of which, Jareth had finished bidding goodbye to Alia and was standing there waiting for her. Sarah rose, curtseyed to Alia, and went to take Jareth's proffered arm. The two of them descended from the platform together, and strode out the back doors. They swung slowly shut behind the couple.

_A/N: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Dun, da da dun DUN!_


	72. Getting to Know You

_A/N: Fluff alert! Fluff alert! Whoop, whoop, whoop! Ding, ding, ding! Sound the alarm--there's fluff in here!_

Chapter 72: Getting to Know (both of) You

Once outside, Jareth pulled her into a long kiss. "Oh, it's so good to kiss my wife," he exclaimed happily. "Sarah, you have made me so happy that not even another Troll War would dampen my mood."

Sarah laughed, remembering her dread at having to know all the dates for all those Troll Wars, and in a twinkling she transformed into her royal persona. She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yes, Jareth, and let's talk about that, shall we?"

"Hmmm?" He was distracted, kissing her neck, and didn't realize she had changed into her new alternate personality.

"You forced me into memorizing hundreds of little factoids about Underground history," the queen said, "By telling me that I would have to know them all before the wedding. Well, Jareth: During twelve days of celebrations, not one single person asked me one single question about any of it." Her voice hardened, and she took a step closer to him.

Jareth glanced up in surprise; this was not the sweet Sarah he was used to. She had a ruthless light in her eye and she looked a little dangerous. He backed up. "Sarah," he started to say, but she advanced on him again.

"So I can only surmise, my dear, that you wished to torture me in some way, knowing that all those lessons wouldn't really be necessary for me to have mastered prior to the wedding." Her voice was silky, and step-by-step, she walked around him as she spoke. She cocked her head. "Now tell me, won't you, what sort of punishment I should inflict upon you for that?"

Jareth backed up a little more. In truth, he was a little startled by Sarah's "royal" persona. He hadn't thought she would be this forceful. She made him nervous, circling him like that, for all the world like he had done to her once upon a time. Enough of this. He slipped into his own royal persona and smirked at her as she came around. "My love, you speak treason to speak of punishing the king. I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

"Treason? How can it be treason, my dear husband, when we are now equals, and more than that, are equally devoted to the good of our kingdom? No, no; I was speaking of a more personal 'punishment.' I have no need to watch my mouth."

"Then I'd better keep it busy then, hadn't I?" the king replied, stopping her in the middle of the circle and abruptly stopping her mouth with his own. She returned the kiss hungrily, and when they stopped for air, she gave him a smirk and promptly transported them to his bedchamber herself.

"And here I'd been planning to offer you some luncheon first," the king teased.

His queen shook her head, a quick negation. "If that's the case, my dear, then I'd say your priorities need some work."

"I shall leave it to you to rearrange them, then," he replied with a smirk, "So… Your Majesty Queen Sarah… whom would you wish for your first bed-partner?"

The queen eyed him suspiciously. "I had assumed that honor lay with my husband… as I plan to, myself," she said stiffly.

"Oh, it does, it does. I was merely inquiring which incarnation you would prefer to lie with."

The Goblin Queen lifted her chin. "I think it would be fitting to begin as our royal selves," she announced. "Whether we continue in that vein or not remains to be seen. I am not adverse to becoming Sarah, later on if the situation warrants."

The Goblin King began by pushing his queen's dress off her creamy, royal shoulders, and kissing them until the queen was gasping. He got a gleam in his eye and spun her around quickly in order to push the dress down further.

The queen raised one imperious hand to stop him. "You first, Your Majesty."

The king conceded, and removed his own shirt. "Now you, Your Majesty," he ordered.

The queen gave him a smirk every bit as mischievous as his own. She pushed the dress down off her shoulders and unfastened the waist, so that it pooled around her feet.

"Very nice, my queen," the king purred, taking in the loveliness of her figure. "I shall have to show restraint, I can tell."

"Yes, you certainly shall, my dear," the queen said pointedly, her eyes dropping to his breeches. Her gaze flicked back up to meet his. "You'll probably succumb to your private persona first, from the look of things."

The king tipped his head back, arrogantly. "Highly doubtful, my dearest. You shall become Sarah _long_ before Jareth makes his appearance. You won't be able to help yourself."

The queen just smiled at him. She reached down and began undoing the hooks on her corset-busk. "Would you care to make a small wager on that, my love?"

His eyes lit with satisfaction. "I thought you would never ask. What are the stakes?"

"If Jareth appears first, then you shall rule on the next three Court Days. If Sarah shows up first, then I shall."

The king nodded once, sharply. "Deal." His eyes darkenedas the corset came off. He reached for her, and then there was no more talking for a long, long time.


	73. Playing to Win

Chapter 73: Playing to Win

At a couple of points, one or the other of them sent down to the kitchen for their meals to be sent up via the crystals, but aside from that they had no outside contact for the rest of the day. They did, however, have plenty of inside contact, and when the huge yellow moon rose over the Labyrinth and shone in their window, it illuminated their intertwined bodies, unclothed and lost in a dead sleep of exhaustion.

Next morning, Sarah awoke first, and smiled lazily at her sleeping husband. She didn't want to wake him, but he looked entirely too delicious for her to leave alone. She leaned over and nipped his ear lightly, grinning as he grunted and batted blindly at her. She leaned down to press her lips to his, and let out a startled squawk when his arms closed around her and pulled her closer. His lips closed over hers, and they kissed for a long time before she finally rolled off him, panting.

"Good morning, my queen," Jareth said softly.

She kissed him again. "Good morning, my love."

His eyes closed. "Even though I'm immortal, I doubt I'll ever get tired of hearing you say that." He blinked them open again and looked up at her with a steady grey gaze. "So who won the wager?" he asked.

Sarah blushed and kissed him again. "I honestly don't remember!"

"Ah," said the ever-practical Jareth. "Then we'll have to try again!"

It was a measure of Jareth's constant will to win, that he was somehow able to transform himself into the Goblin King--with all the resultant dignity and formality--while he was naked in bed with his new bride.

Not to be outdone, Sarah instantly became the Goblin Queen, and raised a challenging eyebrow at her king. He smiled faintly and rolled himself on top of her, slanting his mouth over hers until she was gasping for breath. Not to be outdone, she gave him a mocking smile and began her own onslaught. She took control, rolling him off her, and then starting from the top and working her way down.

They were very late down to breakfast. In fact, breakfast was given a miss altogether, and they barely made it down in time for lunch.

xxxXXXxxx

On the first Court Day after the wedding, Jareth and Sarah walked into the throne room a bit early to get settled before they had to show their public faces. Jareth saw something on the wall and went over to examine it. "Sarah, what is this?"

She grinned. "Isn't it gorgeous? My father gave me the frame for a graduation gift."

"But what is it?"

"It's my degree that I earned from the university."

"And why is it hanging on the wall of my throne room, instead of in your chamber?"

"Well, aren't you Mr. Possessive? I thought it was _our_ throne room. Anyway, it's hanging here because it seemed more appropriate for a place of business than a bedroom." She took his arm and grinned up at him. "There is more to ruling than just knowing the names of all the Underground rulers for the last millennium. Don't you want your people to know that you have a well-educated queen?"

Jareth laughed. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you? That I made you learn all that, before our wedding?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "And rest assured, my love: I will never stop paying you back, either." She pulled him down to her level and kissed him, a slow, lingering kiss.

"If that's how you plan to do it, feel free," he replied with a smile.

The framed degree stayed where it was, and it became a tradition for Court Day to be attended by both king and queen... because they could never remember who had won the wager the night before... even though they never gave up trying quite frequently.


	74. Ch ch ch ch ch changes

Chapter 74: Ch ch ch ch ch changes

It was less than six months later, at the close of Court Day, when Sarah's father appeared before them with a petition.

Their Majesties exchanged puzzled glances. How had he gotten there? Neither one of them had transported him from Above.

"Father of the queen, you may approach us," the king announced.

Robert came forward and bowed, with very proper Underground manners. Some secret part of "Sarah," hidden deep inside the Goblin Queen, wondered how he had learned all that? Her own crystal-lessons had faded mere weeks after the wedding, and she'd had to learn everything the real way.

"Your Majesties," he began, but the king interrupted him.

"Robert, you are welcome here as you know… but tell us first how you came to be here."

Robert cleared his throat. "If I may crave Your Majesties' indulgence for a moment, my method of arrival is closely linked with my petition."

"Go ahead, father," the Goblin Queen directed.

He bowed, and went on, addressing them both formally. "At the event of Your Majesties' wedding, I was introduced to a rather striking fae woman. Unknown to you both, we became friends and began to see each other quite regularly. Because the lady in question is not part of the Goblin Kingdom, but rather remains in her homeland of the Fae, Your Majesties were unaware of our visits that continued after the wedding. We have grown to love each other. I come before you both now, to petition you for the lady's hand in marriage."

The Goblin Queen melted away, and Sarah sat open-mouthed in her place. Her father? In love with a fae woman? When had all this happened? Why hadn't he told her?

"If the lady is not one of our subjects, why petition us for permission to marry her?" the king asked. "Why not petition Oberon?"

"We have, Your Majesty, and for personal reasons, he has conceded the right of refusal to you and Sarah. To Her Majesty, I mean."

"Oh, it's okay, Dad," Sarah said. She had explained to him a long time ago about her new "public" face as opposed to her private one. The differences lay primarily in the formality of her demeanor, and in how self-assured she was. A small smile wormed its way across her stunned face. "I just never thought you'd want to risk marrying again! So who's the lady?"

The king nodded. "Bring her in, Robert, if she is with you."

"She is. She's waiting outside."

Too eager for her father to go, Sarah dispatched a goblin to go and fetch the lady. They could run much faster than humans.

The doors at the back of the room opened, and a tall, slender, brown-haired woman stepped in, smiling.

Sarah gasped. "Bev!" She glanced at her father. "You want to marry Bevelyn?"

"Now don't get all upset, Sarah, just because she's your friend," her father began, but Sarah started to laugh.

"Upset? Me? I think it's marvelous!" She laughed delightedly.

"Sarah," the king said her name quietly, as a reminder: there were others around. They could be "themselves" with Robert and Bevelyn, but not during Court and not in front of the Goblins, the last of whom were slowly making their way out the door.

Instantly, the Goblin Queen was back, raising her chin at a haughty angle as she sat back down. She glanced at the king. "Have you any reason not to grant my father's request?" she asked him formally.

He hesitated a moment, and then shook his head. "I have none. It pleases me that such a dear friend of mine and my queen's shall be united thus in marriage with my father-in-law. I merely ask you both to allow me to set the wedding date."

The queen protested. "My dear husband, surely that is overstepping your bounds. My father and our friend deserve the consideration of setting their own wedding date."

"If I may," Bevelyn began. The king and queen nodded, and she continued. "Robert and I have already made all the necessary arrangements, in hopes that Your Majesties would grant our request. For myself, though, I have an additional request to make."

"We shall give it every consideration," the queen assured her.

Bevelyn hid a grin; knowing how warm and friendly Sarah normally was, it amused her no end to see her friend firmly ensconced in her stiff andofficial royal personality. The situation right now, however, called for the utmost formality, as she couldn't remember the last time something like this had happened. She cleared her throat and went on. "You both are no doubt aware of the prejudice against humans that many still hold, here in the Underground. Unfortunately, this prejudice is most common among the fae; therefore, I ask that you allow us, after we are wed, to come and live here in the Goblin Kingdom. We are willing to become your subjects, and my king is willing to release us."

The king and queen exchanged glances again, but neither one needed to say anything to know what the other was thinking. The queen smiled. "We shall welcome you among us, Bevelyn. Congratulations, father. We wish you both the best."

"If you would like," Jareth put in mildly, stepping out of his own royal persona for a moment now that the goblins were gone, "I can arrange for your house to be brought here from the Fae kingdom, and put up somewhere outside the Goblin City."

"Thank you, Jareth! That would be marvelous!" Bev exclaimed.

That seemed to be the icebreaker; Sarah shed her queenly persona and flew down the stairs of the dais to hug her father and then her friend. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! I couldn't wish for a better mate for either of you—or for a better step-mother," she cried, laughing.

"Bit of a step up from the last one, eh Sarah," her father joked.

Sarah agreed, laughing, and then stopped short. "Does Toby know?"

"Not yet. We were planning to ask you if we could bring him down for a visit and tell him here, when he gets out of school."

"You're just full of requests today, aren't you, Dad?" Sarah teased.

"Why wait?" Jareth asked with a grin, and with a flick of a crystal, he was gone. He returned an instant later, holding the arm of a blond and bewildered teenager.

Toby looked around at his surroundings and brightened. "Whoa, Jareth! Way to rescue me from math class, man!"

"I do my best," Jareth said modestly.

"Hey!" Sarah protested. "I thought you promised to stop kidnapping my brother!"

xxxXXXxxx

By the end of the day, Bev's entire house had been relocated to the edge of the fiery forest beside a stream, and most of Robert's belongings had been moved there. Toby seemed to be taking the news remarkably well, and was making surprising efforts to get to know Bev.

Sarah asked him about it, remembering how betrayed she had felt when her father had remarried. She didn't want Toby going through all the anger and resentment that she had felt.

"Me? No, she seems great. And from what they told me, she's the one who's responsible for me coming to live down here. So I've got no problems with Bev. She's very cool, and she makes Dad happy." His grey eyes were shining. "And Sarah? Jareth says he's going to tutor me in some of my subjects himself!"

"Oh, no," Sarah groaned. She looked at her little brother with sympathy. "You're in for it now. And you thought your math class was bad! Just wait till Jareth gets you started on history!"

* * *

_A/N: Just had to give Bowie a little nod there in the chapter title, as he wrote and sang "Ch-ch-changes." It seemed appropriate, and I just love the line, "Turn around and face the strange... ch-ch-changes!"_


	75. Epilogue: And They All Lived

Epilogue: And They All Lived...

Less than 2 years later, Jareth had his heir.

Robert had his granddaughter… and Bevelyn had her step-granddaughter. Sarah cried with happiness as Jareth cradled his black-haired, blue-eyed daughter in his arms, with his own odd grey eyes looking suspiciously bright. "Avery," he named her. "She shall be a wise ruler." And so their firstborn was christened Avery Williams _rin_ Emrys.

Toby completed his formal education from Jareth and, having shown an aptitude for construction, began an apprenticeship with a master mason. He dreamed of someday redesigning and rebuilding the Goblin City. He and Sarah both maintained their close friendship with Arien; even though Jareth could no longer approach the unicorn as closely as before, Sarah found that those few shared drops of blood enabled Arien to tolerate her presence almost as well as if she'd remained virgin.

Toby and Arien became fast friends and gained quite a reputation throughout the kingdom for collaborating on mischief together.

Terrillia, strangely enough, actually found her niche as a university student. Once she got used tobeing without magicshe settled in nicely, using her fae-born musical talent to gain a spot in Paris' band. Paris didn't like this, since before Terrillia's advent, Paris had been the leader of the band. The rivalry between them was friendly on the surface, but ran deep and bitter underneath. Whenever they looked in on her, Jareth and Sarah both agreed that it was a fitting punishment for both of them.

And every Court day was well-attended… by both the king and queen… neither of whom could ever remember which of them had won the wager the night before. Though not for lack of trying.

END

_Author's note: Whew, that was long! I give a heartfelt thank you to every single person who reviewed; I literally couldn't have finished this story without your helpful reviews and encouragement. I have no plans to write a sequel, although I haven't completely ruled out the possibility of posting brief, "oneshot" chapters at some point in the future if I feel like it. So if there's something I left out that you'd like to see, email me about it and I'll see whether or not I get inspired to write that scene._

_Thanks for reading, everyone. It's been fun.  
---  
Cheers!  
CL_


End file.
